
Gass />/ / g 
Book i t )0 



/ 



f^/ 



59th Congress, I SENATE. j Document 

1st Session. f ( No. 483. ^ 



REPORTS 



^9C 



CONDITION OF EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE 

AXD THE 

MANAGEMENT OF REINDEER SERVICE 

IX THE 

DISTRICT OF ALASKA. 



BY 

FRANK C. CHURCHILL, 
Special Agent. 



June 12, 1906. — Ordered printed with illustrations. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1906. 



. ^ 



,w 



JUL 30 1906 
D. ofO, 



i- 



TABLE OF COE"TENTS. 



Page. 

Letter of transmittal to the Senate by the President 1 

Letter of the Secretary of the Department of the Interior to the President 2 

Letter of the Secretary of the Department of the Interior to the Comptroller of 

the Treasury 3 

Letter of the Comptroller to the Secretary 4 

Letter of the Secretary to Mr. Frank C. Churchill 6 

Report of Special Agent Frank C. Churchill, December 11, 1905 9 

Route taken and time consumed in investigation 9 

Alaska, area, diverse climatic conditions 10 

Inhal)itants, a])out (0,000, more than half natives 10 

Resources — ^Minerals and metals inexhaustible, value of fisheries annually 

about equal to gold output 10 

Transportation of supplies heavy tax on people developing country 10 

Roads — " Key to Alaska will be found in building of roads " 11 

Fishing by white men not believed to take natives' food supply 11 

EDUCATION. 

Legislation for schools, May 17, 1884, agent of education appointed April 11, 
1885, Doctor Jackson, who was then representative of Presbyterian Board 

of Home Missions in Alaska 12 

Held both jwsitions and drew salaries for both for twelve years 13 

Management of schools, characteristics of agent, etc 13 

Point Barrow: 

School estaV)lished, average attendance, 30 pupils 13 

Two of the three buildings and land claimed by mission board, but United 

States paid bills; sectarianism in school work 13 

Congressional appropriations froni 1884 to June 30, 1901, for education, 

8535,000; license fees, !?304,155.98; total, $839,155.98 14 

Nelson act, approved January 27, 1905; difficulties in execution of act on 

account of schools being far apart 15-18 

Schools under governor and under Bureau of Education (tables) 16 

Teachers' salaries, apparatus, etc 19 

Tal)les showing location of schools, salaries, other expenses, buildings, 

location, and cost 22-25 

Eskimos, characteristics, food, clothing, medical treatment necessary; reindeer 

may be made to supply food and clothing 26 

William A. Kelly, school superintendent in southeastern Alaska, character 

al)ove reproach, but station needs younger and more active man 26 

Whisky traffic, evil effects on natives 26 

J. M. Jasberg, special agent, salary 8500, no service in Alaska 27 

Schools for white and mixed blood, appointment of two superintendents 

recommended _ 27 

School year "five months" only, difficult to secure good teachers 28 

Kodiak, conditions such that Xelson Act fits nicely 28 

Afognak, good school building, ])eople making comfortable living 28 

Transi)ortation and supplies. — All supplies, including coal and lumber, must 
be taken from the States. S. Foster & Co., of San Francisco, makes annual 
cruise; has monopoly of transportation business. No harbors, and supplies 
must be taken from large ship to boats and brought ashore. 

Trade not sufficient to attract competition 28-30 

Schools for natives in incorporated towns 30 

Recommends hospital for natives be established in connection with school 

and put in charge of physician 30 

Schools ill eastern Alaska; schools at Sitka; salaries paid teachers vary from 

$75 to $111.11. not based on number of pupils attending school 30 

United States Revenue-Cutter Service: Cutters have their regular duties and 
can rarely reach Point Barrow until last of July, even then danger of being 
caught in ice floe. Three years the ice prevented the cutter reaching there 
at all. If cutters could spend more time in Alaskan waters and transport 
annual supplies, it would materially aid the public business under the Inte- 
rior Department 31 

iir 



IV TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Vuge. 

INIedical attendance needed for natives, puiiiln attending school 32 

Keindeer in Alaska 33 

Nnmlje/ and cost of deer 33 

^Methods of ini])orting deer 34 

Missions, advantages to, from introduction of reindeer, etc 35 

Most promising fieKls for schools assigned to missions 35 

Doctor Jackson drew salary from Presbyterian board of home missions and 

United States at same time 36 

Reindeer herds cared for by ( Jovernment ofhcials alone 36 

Food (moss) for deer; deer owned bj' missions; halnts of deer 37 

Reindeer as a means of transportation 38-44 

Ownership and dispositi(^)n of Government deer 40 

Eskimo district; condition of Eskimos; game in district 40 

Poi)ulation 40 

Reindeer, management, marking, etc 41 

Civilizing influence on natives 41 

"Loaning" deer, separation of missionary and Government interests 43 

Teller Reindeer Station, tables (Nos. 8 and 9) showing number of deer at dif- 
ferent places, number belonging to Government, loaned deer, etc 43 

Table 10, showing employees, herders, apprentices, and deer owned by same. . 44 
Table 11, showing deer purchased by Government, those not yet paid for, and 

those trained for sled 45 

Appn )priations by Congress for deer industry 45 

Information of value lacking in annual reports 45 

American Missionary Association presented at Cape Prince of Wales with 118 
deer; Government has |iaid thousands of dollars to American ^lissionary 

Assi )ciation at Cape Prince of Wales for deer 46 

Distribution of deer to natives as they are capable, recommended 46 

Reindeer as a means of transportation: hardships encountered and courage 
necessary in introducing deer into .\laska; inaccuracy in rej^orts made as to 

deer, etc 46 

Point Barrow: Schoolhouse erected 1904-5; 84,000 authorized; §6,571.29 
expended (see p. 76 for cost of similar building); $3,000 expended for sala- 
ries of two teachers, IMr. Spriggs and Mr. Kilbuck 47 

Material for WaiuAvright schoolhouse, where one teacher was supposed to 

teach, did not arrive in time to erect building 47 

Allowance of §9,000 to Presbyterian board, 1890 to 1894, "for conducting 
school at Point Barrow;" "SI, 000 paid Presbyterian board for new 
schoolhouse at Point Barrow," 1890, and §2,000 paid Presbyterian Ijoard 

for "conducting school at Point Barrow for school year 1890-1901 " 47 

Episcopal Missionary Societv for conducting school at Point Barrow, 

§2,000 .■ 48 

Ownership of deer at Point Barrow, etc 48 

Seven deer owned by native 9 years old '. 48 

Mr. Spriggs's contract for carrying mail twice during winter to Kotzebue 
(§750 a trip) ; hrst trip with deer, the other three made with dog team; 

payment of natives 48 

Wainwright: New schoolhouse, built 1905, like one at Point Barrow: cost will 
be (estimating the bills not yet in) §4,000, while the one at Point Barrow 

cost §6,571.29, built same year by same nian under similar condition^ 49 

School attendance at Wainwright, average 6 49 

Salary of carpenter who erected building; time consumed, etc 50 

Inspector states if money used for schoolhouse at Wainwright had been 
used in supplying natives with s])ruce ])oles from northeastern Alaska 

for their skin boats, real benefits to natives would l)e far greater 50 

Point Hope: Episcopal mission, under charge of J. B. Driggs, M. D., 60 pupils 

enrolled ; independent of Bureau of Education '. 50 

About 3 miles from this school Bureau has partially completed school- 
house, for which §4,000 was' authorized INIarch 31, 1904; inspector thinks 

building should not have been put up 50 

In former years §2,000 a year was allowed the Episcopal Board, but no 

aid is now given it 50 

No deer at this mission 50 

Kotzebue: Friends mission, 20 miles up the sound from anchorage; notable 
to land from Bear; Mrs. Thomas, the minister, is paid §80 by Government 
to teat^h school ; loan of deer to mission 50 



/ 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. • V 

Kotzebue — Continued. i'age. 

Ownership of deer at Kotzebue; mail route from Kotzebue to Shunz-nak 

operated by INIr. Tiiomas; cost of carrying mail 51 

Selioolhouse "authorized, lHO-1, to be built, at i^4,000; §5,419.93 already 

expended 51 

Kivalina, population of 51 

Deering, opposite jside of sound from Kotzebue; small village; white.s and 

natives; Friends mis?iion 51 

Lumber for school house due to arrive; limit of cost, $5,000; authorized 
June 12, 1905; site agreed on day inspection made; §2,484 already paid, 

presumably for lumber 51 

School now carried on in dingy hut, unlit for the purpose 51 

Deer loaned; ownership and management of; herders draw salary and 
also rations from Government; attention called to fact that those who 
have deer receive salary and board and those who have none "shift for 

themselves" 52 

Shismaref: No landing made; nothing to be seen but few native huts and pile 

of lumber for new schoolhouse 52 

Bureau reports for 1904 indicate building constructed; §5,000 authorized, 

and §;^,599. 73 exjiended 52 

Kivalina, or Corwin, Lagoon: April 18, 1905, §5,000 authorized for schoolhouse 
and dwelling; $2,544.48 charged against this authorized exiienditure, pre- 
sumably for buihling material 52 

Only natives found here were Electoona and Otpella, with 220 deer; Mrs. 
Walton, engaged to teach at §80 a month when building is constructed, 

is waiting at Kotzebue, her salary as teacher going on ,. 52 

Cape I'rince of Wales: Unable to land; could see good schoolhouse owned by 
Government, large, well constructed; 375 natives and 80 jiupils; largest 
native village on coast; Mr. A. N. Evans, teacher^ at §1,200, which is to be 

reduced to §810; native teacher, Illayok, at §360 per year 53 

Ameri(!an Missionary Association has control of probably the largest herd 
in Alaska, J, 419 deer; ownership of deer can not be determined. Bureau 
reports having stated in 1902 that original deer were "loaned," and 
report of 1904 states they were a "gift;" The mission and natives have 
been selling deer to Government some time, the last at §25 each. Gov- 

ernuient paid in a single year nearly §6,000 for deer here 54 

Agreements between herders and American ^lissionary Association 54 

Greater progress toward civilization showii here than any other place in 

tlie Arctic , 54 

Teller Keindeer Station. — Original reindeer station; Lutheran Synod has 
orphanage in building owned bv Government; school attendance averages 

17 55 

Deer owned by Government and natives, 941 ; manageuient of 56 

School on opposite side of bay (5 miles distant) with 24 pupils, lapsed 

under Nelson Act 56 

Golovin Bay. — Mission, Swedish Lutheran Church; teacher employed by 

Government, $60 per month; pupils enrolled, 65; average over half 57 

Deer, 1,164, ownership of, etc.; deer sold here last winter at §40 to §45; 

deer loaned ; results of, etc 58 

Bettles. — Cost of school building, §3,114.82; employment of D. W. Cram and 
wife at §1,000 each; reindeer estimated in 1905 to be 300; school discon- 
tinued; disposition of deer 58 

Gambell, St. Lawrence Island. — lieindeer re.^ervation by Executive order; 
250 natives; 2 teachers, at §1,500 and §600, respectively; attendance, 65 

pupils; number of deer, 189 .' .' 59 

"peer business mixed up;" ownership of schoolhouse claimed for Gov- 
ernment, also claimed by mission 60 

Foster & Co. ' s store, etc 60 

Agreement wirti herders 61 

Attention called to exhibits showing contracts with parties to whom deer 

Avere loaned 62 

Criticism, remarks as to existing conditions, etc 64 

Conclusion, recommendations 65 

That deer be loaned only when authorized by Secretary in writing 65 

Persons having control of property should be held responsible 65 

That supervisors of reindeer and schools make yearly inspection of the 

service 65 

That control of schools and management of deer be in Department proper. 66 



VI • TAHLE OF CONTENTS, 

Conclusion, ivronmieniUitions- — ('(intiiiiu'd. Page. 
Persons skilled in medicine, as far as i>racticaV)le, be employed as teachers. 66 
That legislation l)e had placing all schodls in Alaska outside of incorpo- 
rated towns under control of Secretary 66 

Exhibit A. — J^etter dated November 16, 1905, Wrangell, Alaska, from Rev. 11. 

P. Corser, making criticisms as to management of Alaskan schools 67 

i?.i7(///i7 7>.— Affidavit of Albert Oleson, employed at Barrow and at Wain- 

wright, Alaska, dated August 2, ]H(l5, regarding contracts of Mr. Spriggs, etc. 68 

Exhibit ('. — Commissioner of Education, May lU, 19U5, sul)mits views regarding 
proposed change in rules relative to instruction of apprentices in reindeer 
service 69 

Exhibit D. — Letter, dated November 29, 1905, from H. C. Olin, treasurer Pres- 
byterian board, stating .«alary paid Doctor Jackson to March 1,1897; said 
board owns two school liuildiugs at Point P.arrow, etc 73 

Exhibit is.— Letter dated Sejitcmher 19, 1905, fnjm W. T. Lopp, Teller, Alaska, 

concerning deer industry at Teller station 74 

Exhibits F, G, II, I, J, K, L, M, N, 0, P. — Copies of agreements to loan deer 
to different parties at different places 75 

Exldbit C^.— Copy of report of \V. T. Lopp, district suiierintendent, to Dr. 

Sheldon Jackson, general agent, September 8, 1905 84 

Exhibit R. — Copy of vouchershowing that Government paid freight on school- 
house at St. Lawrence Island in 1891, as well as other items of expense. 
(For list of clainiants, or contributors to this building, see report under the 
head of Gambell, St. Lawrence Island ) 84 

Exhibit 8. — Letter of \V. T. Lopp, district superintendent, to Dr. Sheldon 
Jackson, general agent, etc., August 11, 1905 85 

Exhibit T. — Map showing, l)y yellow lines, the route of special inspector while 
making Alaska investigation, requiring upward of 10,000 miles travel and 
the use of six different ships , 86 

SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT, .7.VNUARY 10, 1906. 

St. Lavrrence Island {Gambell). — Refers to statements in report of July 21, 
1905, that he found 70 reindeer loaned to a mission that did not exist; sub- 
sequently 70 deer were transferred to credit of the United States, as stated 
in report of Deceudser 11, 19ti5, but increase of herd, according to under- 
standing of the superintendent, still remain proj)erty of Presbyterian Board 
of Home Missions, except small number owned by apprentices and herders. 87 
Letter from Commissioner of Education explaining that the deer were 
credited to Presbyterian mission the first year, in the "expectation" 
that the Presbyteriau ^lissionary Association would establish a mission 
on the island and take the loan, and the error was "blindly repeated". 88 
Insr)ector comments on ownership of school building and teacher's dwell- 
ing here 88 

Letter from treasurer Prest)yterian board, stating $2,000 was jiaid Doctor 

Jackson for building 89 

Names of contributors to Ijuilding on St. Lawrence Island 89 

Suggests the $2,000 paid Doctor Jackson by Presbxterian board be re- 
turned to that board in onler that Government gain title 89 

Bctth's. — Since filing reimit of December 11, 1905, a cojn' of report made by 
Mr. Cram has Iteen received from him. Inspector concludes Mr Cram and 
his wife accepted employment without knowing anything about the hard- 

shijjs they would encounter or what would be expected of them, etc 89 

Reindeer — Comments on newspaper report, Decendaer 7, 1905, of an address 
given by Doctor Jackson before the Anthropological Society, as being mis- 
leading as to statements regarding reindeer in Alaska, inclosing clipping as 

Exhibit B. B '. 90 

Eskimo — Inspector submits letter received from F. Kleinschmidt, son-in-law 
of Rev. S. Hall Young, one of the early Presbyterian missionaries in Alaska, 
and commends the views expressed as to what should be done with the 
F.skimo, and submits letter as Exhibit C. C. Makes recommendations for 

aid and betterment of conditions of P'skinio 91 

Exhibit A. A. — Copy of report ma<le by Mr. Cram to Con)missioner of Educa- 
tion covering his service at Bettles 91 

Exhibit B. B. — Clipping containing report of Doctor Jackson's address before 
Anthropological Society of Washington, showing that there are now 11,000 
reindeer in Alaska, descendants of the herd of KiO purchased in Siberia with 

fi2,(X10 sul)scri))ed by private parties, and landed in Alaska, etc 108 

Exhibit C. C: — Letter "from F. Kleinschmidt, regarding the Eskimo, with rec- 
ommendations for the betterment of their condition 109 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. VII 

SUPPLEMEXTAL REPORT, FEBRUARY 15, 1906. 

Page. 
Subsecjuent investijiation ooiifinns conclu.sions reached in "general report; " 
Doctor Jackson ilominate.s work in Alaska, still receives salary from Pres- 
byterian Home Mission ( Exhil)it .S) ; "Alaska division " not an "eleemosy- 
nary institution " 112 

Doctor Jackson's acts governed by " missionary spirit " 112 

St. Lawrence Island ((iambell). — Loan of deer to "imaginary mission" 
reported; natnral increase of herd credited to this "imaginary mission;" 
Conunissioner of Kdncation says statements as to "mission" at this place 

was " purely a matter ol' bookkeeping " 112 

Episcopal board of Philadelphia paid S2,000 by Presbyterian board to- 
ward V)nildings; it was also paid 81,000 as a subsidy from the (/iovern- 

ment to establish mission, which it never did •. — 112 

Cape Prince of \Vales. — Othcial reports of Doctor Jackson have shown year 
after year a "loan of 118 reindeer" to American Missionary Association; 
Commissioner of Education subsequently became satisfied the deer were a 
"gift;" Mr. W. T. Lopp, then representing the mission, savs thev were a 

gift - '...;./. 113 

Nowhere in Alaska have the natives received more real benefits from the 
deer than here; Mr. Lopp was a good manager, and under his direction 
Eskimos imjiroved greatly and learned to a)ipreciate the value to them 

of deer -_-■-.-■■ US 

Point Barrow. — Referring to statements in general report as to ]Mr. Spriggs 
receiving $1,500 as teacher while Mr. Kilibuck was performing the duties 
and also receiving $1,500; Mr. Spriggs on August 1, 1905, said he was being 
paid by the Government; on bringing matter to attention of Commissioner 
of Education it was learned after correspondence with treasurer of Presby- 
terian boanl in New York that Mr. Spriggs was put on their pay roll April 

1, 1905. ( Exhibit 1 ) 113 

Inquiry at Treasury Depiartment sliows ]Mr. Spriggs paid by Government 
to March 31, 1905. If Bureau had register like Exhibit 2, such lack of 

information as in S])riggs's case could not occur 114 

Doctor Jackson, general agent of education in Alaska. — Explanation by Com- 
missioner of Education of arrangement whereby Doctor Jackson received 
salary of $1,200 from (lovernment and $1,200 from Presbyterian board at 

same time 114 

At present time it ajipears Doctor Jackson receives $2,500 from Govern- 
ment and $500 from Presliyterian board. ( Exhibit 3) 114 

Inspector reasons from analogy on above state of things 114 

Contracts. — No binding contracts with mis.sions receiving loans of deer, except 
that they shall return like number of deer to Government at end of five years, 
shown in general report by Exhibits F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, and P.. 115 
Loaning deer to missions places missions in competition with the Government 

and natives in the reindeer industry 115 

Cost per t-apita — Claims of Commissioner of Education, based on number of 

pupils enrolled, not only misleading, but unfair 115 

Commissioner's report for 1905 shows (p. 29) school at Wainwright for 
nine months with 65 pupils; but there was no school there until 

September 1, 1905; total population does not exceed 40 persons 116 

Exliibit 4 gives Comn)issioner Harris's views on subject 116 

Reports of reindeer industry tend to mislead public 116 

Laura Madtim, schooner. — Newspaper reports of loss of ship tend to show 
public that Alaska division of Bureau of Education has been operating 
ships, tive of which have been crushed in ice of Arctic Ocean (Exhibit 5) .. 116 

Doctor Jackson's work referred. to ^ 116 

Exhibit 1. — Papers relating to matters at Point Barrow: Copy of telegram from 
Mr. Churchill to H. C. Olin, treasurer Presbyterian board. New York City, 
January 22, 1906, inquiring as to employment of Mr. Spriggs at Point Bar- 
row; copy of answer thereto, Jannarv 24, 1906; copv of letter from H. C. Olin 
to Mr.- Churchill, dated January 23, 1906-Copy of telegram to Dr. C. H. 
Thompson, inquiring when Mr. Spriggs was placed on roll Presbyterian board, 
January 26, 1906, and answer thereto same date — Cojiy of letter from H. R. 
Marsh to Doctor Jackson, August 12, 1898, concerning conditions at Point Bar- 
row, deer, etc. — Copy of letter from ]Mr. Spriggs to Doctor Jackson, August 
10, 1905, saying he has accepted apjiointment from Doctor Thompson 
(Presbyterian board) — Copy of letter to Commissioner of Education from 
Doctor Jackson, dated January 19, 1906, concerning Mr. Spriggs, Mr. Kili- 
buck, and conditions at Point Barrow 117 



VIII TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Page. 

E.rhihit 2. — Blank fi)rin of record of (Mn])loyoesi, .showing name, position, com- 
pensation, (late of approval, file mark, commencement of service, termina- 
tion of service, tile mark, date of approval; also sex, age, birthplace, legal 
residence, previous occupation, date of original ajipointment 121 

Exhihit 3. — Statement, dated January 31, 190(), of Connnissioner of Education, 
relative to payment of salary to Doctor Jackson by Government of §1,200 and 
salary of $1,200 paid by Presbyterian board of missions from 1885 to 1897, 
and $2,000 per year liy Government, beginning January 1, 1897, and January 
1, 1898, increased to $2,500 — The Commissioner states at present time Doctor 
Jackson receives $500 a year for "advice" given as to management of mis- 
sions—Copy of letter, dated May 14, 1887, to Doctor Jackson from N. H. R. 
Dawson, Commissioner of Education, regarding salary paid by Government 
and mi*ion board — Copy of letter to Commissioner of Education, January 
22, 1897 (Secretary Francis), increasing salary of Doctor Jackson to $2,000, 
etc. — Copy of letter to Commissioner of Education, January 3, 1898 (Secre- 
tary Bliss), increasing Doctor Jackson's salary to $2,500 122 

Exhibit 4. — Statement of Commissioner of Education, "received February 2, 
1906," as to GovernmeHt deer in Alaska, the connection of the Government 
with missions, etc., pamphlet on Planting of Presbyterianism 124 

Exhibit .5.— Clipping from Post, regarding loss of schooner Laura Madsen, indi- 
cating the schooner belonged to the "Alaska division," etc 133 

THIRD SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT, JUNE 2, 1906. 

Letter to Commissioner Harris by Mr. Churchill 134 

Enrollment of pupils 135 

Loaning deer 136 

Cape Prince of Wales 136 

St. Lawrence Island : 137 

Gelding and female deer 137 

Not illogical 137 

Deer in 1905 137 

Disclaimer 138 

W. T. Lopp 138 

Appendix A — Testimony of Mr. Lopp 139 

Letter of transmittal of the Secretary to the President 151 

Letter of W. T. Harris, Commissioner of Education 152 

THE REINDEER IN AL.\SKA. 

A commentary on the report of Special Agent Churchill 154 

I. Deer trained to harness 155 

II. Printed reports on Government •expenses in Alaska 156 

III. A herd of geldings 157 

IV. Deer given away or loaned to private parties 158 

V. Government support of relief stations 160 

VI. Error in Bureau's reports 160 

VII. Costliness of experiment 161 

VIII. Mission herds, their economy 162 

IX. Sale of female deer 163 

X. Number of Government deer 163 

XL Deer " put out of Government control " 166 

XII. Economy of management at Wales Mission 167 

XIII. Repurchase of deer originally loaned 169 

XIV. Fragmentary facts of gossip versus official reports 170 

XV. Subsidies to missions for buildings and instruction 171 

XVI. Miscellaneous criticisms 172 

XVII. Support of apprentices 173 

XVIII. Record books and reports to the Government 173 

Letter of Acting Secretary 0. L. Spaulding '. . 175 

Historical table showing reindeer in Alaska 175 



59th Congress, ) SENATE. j Document 

1st Session. \ 1 No. 483. 



CONDITION OF EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, 
ETC., IN ALASKA. 



MESSAGE 

FROM THE 

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 

TRANSMITTING, 

PURSUANT TO SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 137, COPIES OF REPORTS 
OF SPECIAL AGENT FRANK C. CHURCHILL REGARDING THE 
CONDITION OF EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE AND THE 
MANAGEMENT OF REINDEER SERVICE IN THE DISTRICT OF 
ALASKA, DATED, RESPECTIVELY, DECEMBER 11, 1905, JAN- 
UARY 10, FEBRUARY 15, AND JUNE 2, 1906, TOGETHER WITH 
ALL THE EXHIBITS ACCOMPANYING THE SAME. 



June 11, 1906. — Read; referred to the Committee on Territories and ordered to be 

printed. 
June 12, 1906. — Ordered printed with illustrations. 



To the Senate: 

In compliance with the resolution of the Senate of May 31, request- 
ing the President, "if not incompatible with the public interest, to 
furnish the Senate with a copy of the report of the investigation made 
in 1*J05, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, by Special 
Agent Frank C. Churchill, regarding the condition of educational and 
school service and the management of reindeer service in the district 
of Alaska, together with all exhibits accompanying said report," I trans- 
mit herewith copies of the original and supplemental reports of Mr. 
Churchill, dated, respectively, December 11, 11>05, January" 10, Febru- 
ary 15, and June 2, 1906, together with all the exhibits accompanying 
the same. 

I also inclose a letter from the Secretar}^ of the Interior submitting 
the papers for transmission to the Senate. 

Theodore Roosevelt. 

The White House, June 11, 1906. 



2 educational and school service, etc., tn alaska, 

Department of the Interior, 

Secretary's Office, 
W((!<Ji'nuft(m, D. C, June 7, 1906. 
The President : 

Your letter ha.s been received, inclo.'^ing- Senate resolution of May 
31, 1906, in the following terms: 

Resolved, That the President be, and hereby is, requested, if not incompatible 
with the puljHc interest, to furnish the Senate with a copy of the report of the 
investigation made in 1905, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, by 
Special Agent Frank C. Churcliill, regarding the condition of educational and school 
service and the management of reindeer service in the district of Alaska, together 
with all exhibits accomjjanying said report. 

In compliance with your request, I have the honor to transmit 
herewith original report of Special Agent Frank C. Churchill, dated 
December 11, 1905, regarding the condition of the education and 
school service and the management of the reindeer service in the dis- 
trict of Alaska, and supplemental reports from that officer dated 
January 10, February 15, and June 2, 1906, together with all exhibits 
accompanying the same. 

In this connection I deem it proper to add that Mr. Churchill was 
selected for the work of investigating atiairs in the district of Alaska 
by reason of his special fitness for the work. His original appoint- 
ment under this Department in May, 1899, was in the capacity of rev- 
enue inspector for the Indian Territory, charged with the duty of 
collecting tribal taxes. As a result of the manner in which he per- 
formed such duties he was, on July 15, 1901, appointed as a special 
agent to investigate and report, in compliance with the act of Congress 
of March 3, 1901 (31 Stat. L., 1058-1074), whether it was practicable 
to provide a svstem of taxation in Indian Territory suflicient to main- 
tain a system of free schools for all children in that Territory. 

He submitted a full and elaborate report and w^as highly commended 
for the careful manner in which the investigation was made, showing 
much research and thought, and his report was transmitted to Con- 
gress and printed. (H. Doc. 522, 57th Cong., 1st sess.) 

Having satisfactorily performed this dutv, he was appointed, April 
5, 1902, a special inspector for the Interior Department, in which 
capacity he investigated many diflicult matters requiring tact in the 
handling of persons and sound judgment. 

Thereafter, on December 2, 1902, you commissioned him as an Indian 
inspector, and he has confirmed the confidence reposed in him, having 
made mau}^ important Indian- agency investigations and recommenda- 
tions as the result of his visits, looking to the improvement of Indian 
schools throughout the country, wdiich received the approval of this 
Department. 

He was engaged in the inspection of the Indian mission schools in 
California at the time that I determined upon his assignment to the 
work of investigating the aflairs of the district of Alaska. This selec- 
tion was made without his knowledge and on account of his peculiar 
fitness and adaptalnlity for the work to be required of him in Alaska; 
and, to comply W'ith the requirements of the Comptroller of the Treas- 
ury, he had to resign his position as Indian inspector to enable him to 
take the new assignment. He has performed in the most satisfactory 
manner the w-ork committed to him, as evidenced by the reports trans- 
mitted herewith. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 3 

Thereafter he was again commissioned bj^ j^ou as Indian inspector, 
which position he now holds. 

There is herewith transmitted a cop}^ of Department letter to the 
Comptroller of the Treasury, dated April S, 1905, in relation to the 
character of the appointment to be issued to Mr. Churchill on his 
assignment for duty in Alaska and the payment of compensation for 
such service, together with the opinion of the Comptroller in the 
premises, dated April 12, 1905, and the instructions issued to Mr. 
Churchill under date of June 3, 1905, after his appointment as a 
special agent to conduct the investigation of atfairs in the district of 
Alaska. 

Very respectfully, E. A. Hitchcock, 

Secretary. 



Department of the Interior, 

AYadiington, April 8, 1905. 

Sir: It is my desire, at the earliest practicable date, to cause a 
thorough investigation to be made of the school service, white and 
native, maintained outside of incorporated towns in the district of 
Alaska, as well as the educational reindeer service conducted in that 
district under the supervision of the Commissioner of Education. 

With that end in view, I purpose assigning to this duty Mr. Frank 
C. Churchill, an Indian inspector, but before doing so I have to 
request your opinion as to whether, under the existing law, it will be 
practicable to detail an Indian inspector for this service, pay him 
from the proper ajjpropriation his regular salary as an inspector, and 
allow him, instead of his regular per diem in lieu of subsistence, a sum 
not to exceed $8 per day for subsistence, together with his actual and 
necessary traveling expenses while engaged on this assignment, the 
expenses of traveling and subsistence to be paid out of the moneys 
deriyed from licenses in Alaska under the act of March 2. 1903 (32 
Stat. L., 9-16), or the appropriation for education or reindeer in 
Alaska in the sundry ciyil act of March 3, 1905. 

The work to be dispatched under this assignment will necessaril}- be 
onerous, the distances to be traveled are gre:it, in man}' instances the 
schools being remote from civilization, and the cost of subsistence, etc., 
is so much higher than in the States that it is unlikely that the inspector, 
while engaged on this duty, will be able to subsist himself for $3, the 
amount allowed him in lieu of subsistence as an inspector. In order, 
therefore, to prevent the possibility of any pecuniary loss })y reason 
of directing him to perform this work, 1 have concluded to allow him, 
if possible, the amount stated for subsistence. 

If this can not be done, is it permissible under the law for me to grant 
Indian Inspector Churchill leayc of absence without pay for such period 
as may be necessary, and appoint him as special agent to make the 
desired investigation in relation to Alaskan ati'airs, at a salary to be 
hereafter determined, with traveling expenses and subsistence pa3^able 
from the al)ove-mentioned appropriations under the acts of March 2, 
1903, and March 3, 1905, supra ^ 

If, in 3'our judgment, neither of the courses should be deemed 
practicable, would it be permissible to appoint a suitable person not 
now connected with the Government seryice for this work of inspec- 



4 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

tion in Alaska, at a componsation to be determined, payint^ his .salary, 
traveling expenses, and subsistence, out of the above-mentioned appro- 
priations^ 

An early expression of 3'our views on this matter will be appreciated. 
Very respectfully, 

E. A. Hitchcock, Secretary. 

The COMPTKOLLEK OF THE TREASURY. 



Treasury Department, 
Office of Comptroller of the Treasury, 

Wai<}nn(jt<m, Ajjril 1'2, 1905. 
Sir: I am in receipt of 3^our letter of the 8th instant, as follows: 

It is my desire, at the earliest practicable date, to cause a thorough investigation to 
be made of the achool service, white and native, maintained outside of incorporated 
towns in the district of Alaska, as well as tlie educational reindeer service conducted 
in that district under the supervision of the Commissioner of Education. 

With that end in view, I purpose assigning to this dutj' Mr. Frank C. Churchill, an 
Indian inspector, but before doing so I have to request your opinion as to whether, 
under the existing law, it will be practicable to detail an Indian inspector for this 
service, pay him from the proper appropriation his regular salary as an inspector, 
and allow him, instead of his regular per diem in lieu of subsistence, a sum not to 
exceed $8 per day for subsistence, together with his actual and necessary traveling 
expenses while engaged on this assignment, the expenses of traveling and subsist- 
ence to be paid out of the moneys derived from licenses in Alaska under the act of 
March 2, 1903 (32 Stat. L., 946), or the appropriation for education or reindeer in 
Alaska in the sundry civil act of March 3, 1905. t' -,i«^ 

The work to be dispatched, under this assignment will necessarily be onerous. The 
distances to he traveled are great in many instances the schools being remote from 
civilization, and the cost of subsistence, etc., is so much higher than in the States 
that it is unlikely that the inspector, while engaged on this duty, will be able to sub- 
sist himself for %'?>, the amount allowed him in iieu of subsistence as an inspector. In 
order, therefore, to prevent the possibility of any pecuniary loss by reason of direct- 
ing him to perform this work, I have concluded to allow him, if possible, the amount 
stated for subsistence. 

If this can not be done, is it permissible under the law for nie to grant Indian 
Inspector Churchill leave of absence without pay for such period as maybe neces- 
sary and appoint him as special agent to make the desired investigation in relation 
to Alaskan affairs, at a salary to be hereafter determined, with traveling expenses and 
subsistence, payable from the above-mentioned appropriations under theacts of March 
2, 1903, and March 3, 1905, supra? 

If in your judgment neither of the courses should be deemed practicable, would 
it be permissible to appoint a suitable person not now connected with the Gov- 
ernment service for this work of inspection in Alaska at a compensation to be 
determined, paying his salarj-, traveling expenses, and subsistence out of the 
above-mentioned appropriation? 

The act of April 21, 1904: (33 Stat. L., 191), provides: 

For pay of eight Indian inspectors, * * * at two thousand five hundred dol- 
lars per annum each, twenty thousand dollars. 

For traveling expenses of eight Indian inspectors, at three dollars per day when 
actually employed on duty in the field, exclusive of transportation and sleeping-car 
fares, in lieu of all other expenses now authorized by law, * * * 

This act fixes the amount of salary that shall be paid to an Indian 
inspector and limits the amount of per diem in lieu of subsistence that 
may be paid and makes a specific appropriation for the pa3anent of 
the traveling- expen.ses while actually employed on duty in the field. 
These appropriations are exclusively available to pay such inspectors 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 5 

and their expenses, and payment for such services may be made there- 
from subject to the limitations therein as to the amount of the per 
diem in lieu of subsistence to be paid. 

I have therefore to advise you that if Mr. Frank C. Churchill, an 
Indian inspector, is assigned to duty in Alaska, by virtue of his office 
as Indian inspector, you would not be authorized to pay him in a differ- 
ent way or from a diflerent appropriation than if assigned to duty 
elsewhere. (3 Comp. Dec, 240.) 

Your second question raises the question whether you can grant 
Inspector Churchill leave of absence without pay for such period as 
may be necessary, and appoint him a special agent to make the desired 
investigation in relation to Alaskan affairs, at a salary to be hereafter 
determined, with traveling expenses and subsistence payable from the 
appropriations under the act of March 3, 1903, and ^Vlarch 3, 1905. 
Said appropriations are what are known as lump sum appropriations. 

Mr. Churchill as Indian inspector holds a Presidential appointment 
and is a commissioned officer with a salary fixed by law, and in my 
judgment you can not grant him a leave of absence with or without 
his consent that would deprive him of the salary attached to the office 
of Indian inspector by law so lon^ as he holds the office of Indian 
inspector. In this connection see the case of G lave v v. United States 
(182 U. S., 595.) 

The separate appointment of Mr. Churchill as a special agent to 
make the desired investigation in relation to Alaskan affairs, if such 
appointment is not an appointment to an office, would not be in vio- 
lation of any law with which I am acquainted or to which my atten- 
tion has been called. 

I take it, however, as you can not permit Mr. Churchill to hold the 
office of Indian inspector without the Government being liable for his 
salary as such, that you do not desire to give him an employment as 
special agent to investigate into Alaskan affairs, subject to the payment 
to him of both compensations. 

Relative to your third question: The appropriations from which the 
special agent to investigate into Alaskan affairs are to be paid are lump 
sums, you having the discretion to fix compensations, the same not being 
fixed by law. You are authorized to appoint some person not already 
holding a Government position and fix his compensation, including as a 
part thereof such commuted sums as you may see fit for subsistence 
and lodging, or you may fix his compensation and allow him his rea- 
sonable and actual traveling expenses, removing-, if necessary, the 
Departmental maximum and fixing ahig-her maximum. 

If inspection service is necessary in connection with expenditures 
under the act of March 2, 1903 (32 Stat. L., 946). authorized by you 
prior to January 27, 1905, the expenses for said inspection w^ould be 
payable from the license funds collected under the act of March 2, 
1903, as an incident to the expenditures so authorized by the Secre- 
tary of the Interior under said act. 

Respectfully, R. J. Tragewell, 

Conijytroller. 

The Secretary of the Interior. 



6 educational and school service, etc., ix alaska. 

Department of the Interior. 

Washington, June 3^ 1905. 

Sir: You have been commissioned as a special agent for the purpose 
of investigating the condition of educational and school service and the 
management of reindeer service in the district of Alaska. Your com- 
pensation will be at the rate of $751 per month, with the understand- 
ing that subsistence will be provided at your own expense. You will 
be allowed your necessar}- expense for transportation, including sleep- 
ing-car fare and service, and are authorized to incur such other expenses 
of an incidental character as ma}^ be necessary to the execution of the 
trust assigned to 3"0u. 

At the earliest practicable date 3'ou will proceed to Alaska, using 
your own judgment, after reaching Seattle, Wash., as to whether you 
will first proceed to investigate the condition of schools in southeastern 
Alaska or proceed to Dutch Harbor, Unalaska, and make an investi- 
gation of school and reindeer service north of that point, completing 
your work in southeastern Alaska on j^our return. 

Asa matter of information, it may be stated that, as to the trip from 
Dutch Harbor through Bering Sea to the Arctic Ocean and return, 
}^ou can leave Seattle b}- the earl}^ June boats, reaching Nome, Alaska, 
near the middle or last of June, the time of arrival at Dutch Harbor 
being dependent upon whether or not very much ice is encountered. 
At Nome 3'ou can await the arrival of the revenue cutter Bear., which 
is due at Dutch Harbor early in July, and on which it has been 
arranged by the Secretary of the Treasury that 3'ou shall be provided 
with accommodations. Taking this cutter, visits can be made to the 
schools and reindeer stations along the coast of the Bering Sea and 
the Arctic Ocean, and 3'ou can return to Dutch Harbor some time in 
September, 1905. On the return trip it is understood that you will 
be able to take a mail steamer at Dutch Harbor, touching various 
points along the coast in southeastern Alaska, and thus inspect the 
schools in that section, reaching Seattle some time in December, 1905. 

As to the trip through southeastern Alaska, it has been ascertained 
tentatively that 3'ou can leave Seattle, Wash., on regular steamers at 
any time after Ma}" 30 for examination of schools in southeastern 
Alaska, going as far as Skagway, a distance of about 1,000 miles, this 
latter trip covering approximatel}^ four days. From Skagway or 
Juneau to Valdez it is understood that there is a similar monthly mail 
route and from Valdez to Dutch Harbor, Unalaska, another monthly 
mail service. This latter inspection and return to Seattle will in all 
probability consume three months. Accommodations on the steamer 
from Seattle should be ari-anged by telegraph, owing to the crowded 
condition of the boats due to the great number of persons returning 
to Alaska in the spring. 

The facts above set forth may, upon investigation b}" j^ou at Seattle, 
prove to be incorrect, and 3'ou will therefore have to govern 3'ourself 
in the matter of your trip 113^ such facts as 3^ou ma3^ be able to ascer- 
tain upon investigation at that place. 

The honorable Secretaiy of War will be requested to instruct Cap- 
tain Grant, the quartermaster at Seattle, to extend 3'ou such courtesies 
and afford such information as ma3' be practicable and of assistance to 
you in connection with 3'our proposed investigation of affairs in 
Alaska. 



EDUCATIONAL AXD SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA. 7 

The act of January 27, 1905 (copy herewith), entitled "An act to 
provide for the construction and maintenance of roads, the establish- 
ment and maintenance of schools, and the care and support of insane 
persons in the district of Alaska, and for other purposes," among 
other things provides for the separation of the white and native schools 
in the district of Alaska, placing the white schools under the control 
of the governor of the district of Alaska, as superintendent of public 
instruction, and continuing the management of the native schools 
under the Commissioner of Education, subject to the supervisory 
authorit}^ of the Secretary of the Interior. 

In the accompanying copy (marked ""Exhibit A") of the plan of 
operations of the school and reindeer service for the ensuing iiscal 
year, which was approved conditionallv under date of May 31, 1905, 
will be found, on pages 2 and 3, a list, marked "x\," showing all white 
schools in Alaska which are under the supervision of the governor; 
and a list, marked ''B," will be found on pages 3 and 4, showing the 
native schools, which remain under the control of this Department, 
and which will be continued if there are funds sufficient for the 
purpose. 

You will visit as man}- of these white and native schools as may be 
practicable; ascertain their present condition; the methods of manage- 
ment; the number of pupils; the number of teachers; the method of 
appointment of the latter; their salaries, whether reasonable or excess- 
ive; the methods obtaining in purchasing school and subsistence 
supplies, erecting buildings, and the rental of buildings for school 
purposes; and, generally, ascertain whether the service has been con- 
ducted properly and in an economical and businesslike manner, and 
submit such recommendations for the betterment of the service and 
the purchase and delivery of school and other supplies therefor as in 
your judgment the facts disclosed may warrant. 

If practicable, 3'ou will also ascertain the means that have been 
adopted b}' the governor in carrying into effect the provisions of the 
act of January 27, 1905, in relation to the management of the white 
schools since their transfer from this Department to his immediate 
supervision, their condition, methods of obtaining and disbursing 
moneys for the support thereof, the purchase of school supplies, 
employment of teachers, etc. 

You will visit as many of the reindeer stations shown on the accom- 
panying map (marked "Exhibit B") as practicable, investigate the 
conditions there existing, the methods emploN^ed in handling deer, the 
number of herders and apprentices, those paid for their services in 
money or otherwise, and those who are not compensated, the number 
of pupils actually in school at each reindeer station, the length of time 
they are in school, the period of time they are learning to manage the 
reindeer, the system in vogue of loaning reindeer to the various mis- 
sionary societies in Alaska, the system employed in purchasing sup- 
plies for this service, the methods of employing and paying people 
connected therewith, whether or not either the loaning of reindeer to 
the missions maintaining schools, or the loaning of the same to the 
natives as a method of industrial education should be continued or 
abandoned, and you will submit such recommendations for the better- 
ment of the service as in your judgment the circumstances warrant. 

There is also herewith' inclosed (marked "Exhibit C") a tentative 
set of regulations which have been submitted by the Commissioner 



8 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

of Education for ii\y approval, for the government of this reindeer 
service. They have not been approved for the reason that I desired 
you to examine them carefully in connection with the facts disclosed 
as a result of your investigations, and submit a report giving an 
expression of your views as to the advisability of the adoption of these 
regulations, or any part thereof. 

There is also herewith transmitted a paper (marked '' Exhibit D") 
showing the names of all employees at reindeer stations, the appren- 
tices and herders: their respective compensations; the number of deer 
owned by each apprentice and herder at each station, respectively, 
together 'with a tabular statement (marked ''Exhibit E") showing 
the status of the herds of reindeer July 1, 190i. and as estimated for 
July 1, 1905, the latter embodying the proljable increase in the herds. 
This statement, it will be seen, shows the number of deer loaned by the 
Government to missionary societies, herders, and apprentices; those 
not loaned; the number of deer the propertv of the missionary socie- 
ties, and the number belonging to herders and apprentices. It will 
be seen therefrom that the total number of deer in Alaska July 1, 
1904, was 8,189. and that the estimated number which will probably 
be found on hand July 1, 1905, is 11,596. 

As a matter of information it may be stated that from 189-1, when 
the first appropriation was made for the introduction and domestication 
of reindeer in Alaska, up to and including the present fiscal year, there 
has been appropriated in all $207,500. and that on the 1st of July, 1901, 
the number of deer actually owned by the Government was but 2,321. 
The remainder of the deer in the district on that date, 5,868 in number, 
it is understood, are owned by the various missionary societies, the 
herders, and natives, but they were all originally acquired, either 
directly or indirectly, from the Government. Assuming that a large 
proportion of the total appropriations was expended for supplies and 
salaries of instructors attendant upon educating the natives industrially, 
it is problematical as to whether a system should be continued in force 
which, judging from past results, will ultimately bring about the dis- 
tribution among private parties of the remaining herds of deer belong- 
ing to the Government, leaving it without any deer at all in actual 
ownership, and necessitating the purchase outright of additional deer 
at some time in the future, if the service is to be continued under the 
present system. This is one of the points to which I wish to direct 
your especial attention in this investigation. 

If, in the course of your investigations, you should deem it necessary 
3'ou are authorized to send for persons and papers and take testimony 
before some officer authorized to administer oaths for general purposes. 
In the event of the failure or refusal on the part of persons whose tes- 
timony you desire to appear before you you will l)ring the matter to 
the attention of the United States attorney for the district, who will 
advise you as to the proper course to be pursued in the premises. 

If necessary in the prosecution of the work intrusted to you here- 
under, you are authorized to employ a stenographer and typewriter, 
and the expense of such employment, as well as the cost of taking tes- 
timony and other incidental expenses, will be paid by you as special 
disbursing officer, upon voucliers and receipts recjuired by Department 
regulations. 

Your salary and all expenses incurred in the carrj^ing into effect of 
this assignment will be paid you as special dis))ursing officer, and your 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 9 

accounts thereof will be adjusted in the usual manner. There has 
been set aside from the appropriation for education in Alaska for the 
ensuing- fiscal j^ear for the purposes of this investigation the sum of 
$5,000, to be applied in payment of your compensation as special 
agent, and to be used for your traveling and other expenses in con- 
nection with the execution of this trust. 

In addition to the several exhibits hereinbefore enumerated there is 
herewith transmitted the report on Introduction of Domestic Reindeer 
in Alaska for 190-1; the report of the Commissioner of Education 
embodying the report of the special agent in charge of education in 
Alaska for the same period, and a report of the governor of Alaska 
for 1904. There are also forwarded herewith maps of the district of 
Alaska, showing all the places at which schools are maintained, both 
white and native, and a separate map showing clearly the reindeer sta- 
tions now in operation; the stations proposed to be established, and 
the routes of travel by land and water. 

In proceeding to Alaska under this assignment you are authorized, 
if you so desire, to go to Seattle via Boston and Montreal, Canada. 

If at any time 3'ou desire further instructions touching any matters 
to be investigated by you under this authority you will at once com- 
municate with the Department by wire in regard to the matter, and 
it will receive prompt consideration. 

Very respectfully, E. A. Hitchcock, 

Secretary. 

Mr. Frank C. Churchill, 

Special Agent to Investigate Condition of School Service and 
.Domestication af Reindeer in the District of Alasha^ Wash- 
ington^ D. O. 



REPORT OF FRANK C. CHURCHILL, SPECIAL AGENT. 

Department of the Interior, 

Washing fort, December 11^ 1905. 

Sir; I have the honor to submit my report upon matters in Alaska 
set forth in your instructions of June 3, 1905: 

It is not my purpose to burden this report with lengthy references 
or irrelevant statistics, but I deem it pertinent and essential for a 
clear understanding of some of the questions at hand to present a few 
facts b}' way of general information but before proceeding even with 
this I ask leave to say that without any previous knowledge of the 
country I proceeded to Alaska last summer, and sailed along the coast 
from the most northern point on the continent at Point Bano^v, 
through the Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea and from thence along the 
southern coast bordering on the Pacific to Sitka, and so on b}- what is 
termed the inside passage back to Seattle, traveling on six ditferent 
ships, covering over 10,000 miles b}' water, and requiring ninety-four 
days at sea. 

To do this in the short season in which navigation is open, in the 
northern waters, all m}'^ stops were necessarily brief, and it was found 
to be a physical impossibility to reach all the points desired, but assur- 
ing you that nothing withing my power was left undone to secure and 



10 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA. 

be able to lay before you as complete a report as possible, I will pro- 
ceed, adding only that the work in hand involves a review of the admin- 
istration of ati'airs in Alaska for a period of twenty years, and the 
expenditure for schools and reindeer of nearly a million dollars. 

Great stress has been put upon the fact that the United States pur- 
chased Alaska in 1SG7 for $7,200,000. In the light of history this was 
only a nominal figure, and on account of it it has been argued that this 
thing and that, often involving an outlay of millions, should be done 
by the Government; an argument which has as little force or bearing 
as does the fact that Manhattan Island was purchased for $24. 

It is purely a question as to what Alaska needs and ought to have. 
In the administration of Alaskan affairs the tirst feature to be consid- 
ered is its vast area of 000,000 square miles, equal to about one-sixth 
of the United States. The next is the remarkable diversity of climatic 
and physical conditions, from a mild temperature in the southeast por- 
tion, where the temperature is rarely much below freezing in winter 
and where there are millions of acres of heavily timbered land provid- 
ing fuel and building material, to the coldest climate known to man, 
in that portion bordering on Bering Sea and the Arctic Ocean, where 
it is one treeless, frozen waste with less than one hundred days in a 
year when out-of-door work can be carried on. In the latter section 
the only fuel or wood for building is that which drifts to its inhos- 
pitable shores from points many hundreds of miles away. 

In this northern part the sun is not even visible from about Novem- 
ber 14: to January 26, and for a long time before and after these dates 
there is but very little daylight. 

A timberless region where the cold is so intense at once suggests 
novel economic questions for its inhabitants, notabl}' as to domiciles, 
food, and its preparation, and sufficient fuel to protect human life. 
We have owned Alaska for thirty-eight years, during the ffrst part of 
which it practically stood still, and it was not until 1898, when gold 
was discovered in the Klondike, that the masses paid much attention 
to it, and until then few white people outside of those interested in 
furs and ffsh desired to even visit it. 

Of course the mild eastern part became well known even before its 
sale, but it remained for the irrepressible gold seeker to push into the 
unexplored parts. 

It is supposed that there ai'e now upward of 60,000 inhabitants, 
more than half of which are natives. It is now known that the deposit 
of minerals and metals is almost inexhaustible, and it is a signiffcant 
fact that no year in the history of the country has been more prosperous 
than that which ended with the close of navigation a few weeks ago, 
and it can be safely predicted that Alaska will add millions to the 
wealth of the nation. 

Nome is as far west as Honolulu, and the Alaskan peninsula and the 
Aleutian Islands, that extend toward Kamchatka, stretch out as far as 
from Massachusetts Bay to the Mississippi River; so comparisons 
could be multiplied to the amazement of those who have never given 
this subject particular attention. 

Furs and whales were once the chief products of Alaska and Alaskan 
waters, but this is all changed; and now, while gold attracts the masses, 
the value of its fisheries annually are about equal to the output of gold. 
In a sparsely settled country, with the long and severe winters and the 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 11 

highest mountain ranges to be found in America, with no roads, we 
are confronted with serious problems, and especiall}' when^he country 
is known to contain untold wealth. 

The key to Alaska will be found in the building of roads, and until 
they and other means are provided the transportation of supplies which 
must come from the States will ever be a tremendous tax upon the 
people who develop the country-. The time and labor now consumed 
in getting food to interior points is a hindrance to development that is 
well-nigh prohibitive. 

In proceeding with the particular questions assigned to me in con- 
nection with schools and reindeer, the several phases of the sul)jects in 
hand have been classitied to some extent, but they have been found so 
intermingled or merged that it becomes necessary to consider them 
more or less jointly. 

A report covering c}uestions so important as I regard those in hand 
to be can not be put into a few words, but it is hoped that what is set 
forth herein will be found sufficiently clear to enable my superiors to 
have a tolerably well-detined picture before them of the true situation. 

The question as to what the people admit to be due the aboriginal 
inhabitants of America in the way of education was settled long ago 
and needs no discussion excepting as to methods. 

Alaska, being a new field, affords an opportunity for the study of 
precedents, especially those established in the education of our west- 
ern Indians, where there are varying conditions as to climate and 
environment, as well as in the people themselves. 

The temporal needs of the Alaskan natives invite careful considera- 
tion. 

It is claimed that we can not separate the question of obtaining sub- 
sistence from that of education in Alaska, and that the coming- of the 
white man is shown to make tribal life impossible by destroying the 
occupation of the natives, which has been chiefly that of hunting and 
fishing. The white man is doing much to exterminate the salmon in 
Alaskan waters, but it is not generally believed that this has resulted 
in any shortage of fish needed ])y the natives for food. In the rein- 
deer district, excepting in the southern part around Nome, there is no 
immediate danger of encroachments upon the Eskimos, meaning those 
above and in the vicinity of the Arctic Circle. It is an open question 
as to whether or not the coming of the white man will not eventually 
be of advantage to the natives in earning a livelihood. That the natives 
will learn many things from the whites that it were better that they 
should not know goes without saying. Still, the breaking up of 
"tribal life" should not be held up as a bugbear, but, on the other 
hand, should be encouraged so far as the natives become educated either 
in books or as laborers, to the end that they become absorbed and 
made a part of the districts inhabited by the white newcomers. 

Labor brings a high price in Alaska compared with other places, 
especiall}^ in mining. It is estimated that more than three-fourths 
of Alaska is utterly worthless for any branch of agriculture that would 
be considered of value in the States. Of course, it is possible to 
develop the reindeer-team business to that extent that it will be of 
real value — first to the natives and secondly to the whites who push in 
to develop new sections — but past management has done very little in 
this direction, and ver}' little can be hoped for along this line until 
there is an entire rearrangement. 



12 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SEEVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA. 



EDUCATION. 

The Hrst Congressional legislation for schools in Alaska may be 
found in section 13 of the act approved May 17, 1881, entitled ''An act 
providing- civil government for Alaska," which is as follows: 

Sec. 13. That the Secretary of the Interior shall make rieedful and proper pro- 
vision for the education of the (children of school age in the Territory of Alaska, 
without reference to race, until such time as permanent provision shall he made for 
the same, and the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may 
be necessary, is hereby appropriated for this purpose. 

Under date of March 2, 1885, the honorable Secretary of the Inte- 
rior addressed the following communication to the honorable Com- 
missioner of Education: 

Sir: Section 13 of the act providing civil government for Alaska devolves upon the 
Secretary of the Interior the duty of making needful and proper ]>rovision for the 
education of the children of school age in that Territory until permanent provision 
shall be made for the same. 

The nature of the duties assigned by section 516 of the Revised Statutes to the Com- 
missioner of Education would seem to point him out as the proper oflScer through 
whom the purpose of Congress should be carried into execution. 

I have to request, therefore, that you prepare a plan of operation and initiate such 
steps as are necessary and proper for carrying into effect the legislation above 
referred to, reporting the results of the same as may be hereafter directed by the 
Secretary of the Interior or whenever in your judgment there may be occasion for so 
doing. 

Very respectfully, etc., H. M. Teller, 

Secretary. 

The Commissioner of Education. 

Immediately following the issuance of the above letter, viz, April 
11, 1885, Rev. Sheldon Jackson, then superintendent of a Presbyte- 
rian school at Sitka and representative of the Presbyterian Board of 
Home Missions, was appointed general agent of education in Alaska, 
and he has held the position continuously since that time. 

Doctor Jackson had served the Presbyterians as a tield missionary or 
an agent for several years prior to his appointment in the Government 
service, and he was a most energetic one, and through him the Presby- 
terians were very early in the held of Alaska, where a few schools were 
established by the Presbyterian board. 

It is now apparent that when by virtue of office Doctor Jackson was 
authorized in 1885 to shape the expenditure of public funds for educa- 
tional purposes he retained many of the methods used by him when 
representing the Presl)yterian board onl3\ For twelve years after his 
appointment by the United States as general agent for education in 
Alaska Doctor Jackson continued in office as a field agent for the Board 
of Missions in New York, and drew a salary for that service. As one 
to push things he has few equals. By holding two offices, with prac- 
tical control of appropriations by Congress, it is hardly necessary to 
mention that Doctor Jackson could dominate school and church afiairs. 
With the power to appoint teachers, employ lal)or, charter ships, make 
building contracts, and expend thousands of dollars yearly for food 
.supplies, etc., to be paid for by the United States, while he was the 
paid agent of a particular denomination, there need be no surprise that 
the general agent for education in Alaska was sometimes accused of 



EDUCATIO^^\L AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 13 

conducting matteis in an arbitrary and high-handed way. No printed 
reports being made whereby the public could know about the salaries 
and other expenses paid from year to 3'ear has tended to throw an air 
of nn'ster}' around the administration of the Bureau's affairs not alto- 
gether desirable. (Exhibit A.) 

Characteristic energy and ambition seem to have induced the general 
agent, or those behind him, to push into the Arctic Ocean and cover 
that tield. It is questionable whether the time was ripe for the expendi- 
ture of money and labor at some of the points of invasion. It is 
believed that much more could have been accomplished with the same 
amount of time and labor had the work been taken up more gradually 
and only after careful deliberation. 

A school was established at Point Barrow, the most northern point 
on the continent, and thousands of dollars have been expended there. 
This school was a novelt3% and it has been advertised in various ways 
throughout the world, although there is only an avei'age attendance 
of 30 pupils. The expense of conducting this school has been very 
great, and as nearly as can be ascertained the United States has paid 
the bills for the most part; yet the land and two of the three buildings 
are claimed by the Presbyterian board. Further reference will be 
made to this subject under the head of Point Barrow. 

That there may be no mistake, it should at once be put down 
emphaticallv that nearlj- every color of religious faith is represented in 
some w^ay in the schools or missions in Alaska. Sectarianism in the 
school work has been prominent from the first, and it has resulted 
in creating denominational controversies or jealousies here and there, 
as it might have been expected that whatever a paid agent of one 
denomination, clothed with authority to disburse public funds, might 
do to establish new schools, his acts would be brought into question, 
and when those of his own church were placed on the Government pay 
roll it is not strange that the feeling should be more or less common 
that denominational favoritism has prevailed, proving that mixing up 
church and government matters along financial lines is not advisable 
in view of results. It leads to lax discipline and extravagance. There 
came a time in the management of affairs when the Bureau adopted 
the plan of requesting the several representatives of the great mis- 
sionary associations to nominate superintendents and teachers, which 
in practice gave these associations tlie privilege of placing whomsoever 
thev might choose upon the pay roll of the Government. While this 
may have resulted in warding off' complaints against the Bureau for 
exhibiting denominational partisanship, the principle can hardly be 
regarded as a safe one. 

Including the first appropriation, in 1884, Congress has granted up 
to the close of the fiscal year 1901, for education in Alaska, $535,000, 
and there has been derived for this purpose ''from one-half of license 
fees collected outside of incorporated towns in Alaska" from March 3, 
1901, to June 30, 1905, $301,155.98, or a grand total for education 
since 1881 of $839,155.98, as shown by the following table, to which, 
as I understand it, should be added an appropriation available for the 
current fiscal year of $50,000. 

The following taV>le shows the history of Congressional appropria- 
tions for education in Alaska: 



14 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA. 

First grant to establish schools, 1884 $25, 000. 00 

Annual grants, school year: 

188(5-87 15, 000. 00 

1887-88 25, 000. 00 

1888-89 40, 000. 00 

1889-90 50, 000. 00 

1890-91 50, 000. 00 

1891-92 50, 000. 00 

1892-93 40, 000. 00 

1893-94 30, 000. 00 

1894-95 30, 000. 00 

1895-96 30, 000. 00 

1896-97 30, 000. 00 

1897-98 30, 000. 00 

1898-99 30, 000. 00 

1899-1900 30, 000. 00 

1900-1901 30, 000. 00 

Total 535, 000. 00 

Amounts received from one-half of license fees collected outside of incor- 
porated towns in Alaska, from — 

March 3, 1901, to June 30, 1902 (sixteen months) 35, 882. 41 

July 1, 1902, to June 30, 1903 19, 742. 62 

July 1, 1903, to June30, 1904 103,377.30 

July 1, 1904, to June 30, 1905 145, 153. 65 

Total 304,155.98 

The subject of introduction of reindeer into Alaska will be taken up 
further on, for which Congress has appropriated since ISO-Jt, $222,000. 

Under the provisions of the Nelson Act (Public — No. 26) there must 
be a complete reorganization of the school service. This would not be 
so objectionable in a country where the school territor}- could be looked 
over at requisite periods at reasonable cost. In Alaska, however, this 
can not be done, and the few schools that come under the supervision 
of the governor under the act are so widely separated from each other 
that it will be hard, if not impossible, to carry the law into effect to 
the end that those entitled to educational facilities will receive the ben- 
efits due them. To illustrate: The school at Teller village is 3,000 
miles from Juneau, and Unalaska is more than 500 miles from Sitka, 
as the boats run, and other points affected by the law, while not as far 
away, are quite as inaccessible, and nearly all of them are reached onl}" 
by ships that run at infrequent intervals. The same supervising offi- 
cer for native schools could and I think should be charged with the 
supervision of the schools for whites, principally on account of the 
extraordinary expense and consumption of time which will be required 
to organize and superintend them. It shoidd be understood, however, 
that this view of the situation does not apply to the schools in incor- 
porated towns. The law has temporarily emptied several schoolhouses 
owned by the Government at points where the children are mostly of 
mixed blood, and Unalaska and Kodiak are cited as illustrations. Table 
No. 1 enumerates these, and Table No. 2 gives those now within incor- 
porated towns. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA, 



15 



Table No. L — School buildings owned by United States formerly used by Bureau of Edu- 
cntion, for white children, outside incorporated towns which were, by the act of January 
27, 1905, transferred to the supervision of the governor of Alaska. 



School. 


Cost. 


Character. 


Dimen- 
sions. 


Date of pay- 
ment. 


Fund 
from 
which 
paid. 


Sitka No. 1 


?2,000.00 
2, 700. 00 

2, 135. 25 


Frame, 1 storv.. 
do "... 


Feet. 

33^ bv 40 

20 by 30 

55 by 31 


May 5, 1888 
Dec. 6, 1890 

Oct. 28,1896 


1884 




18S8-89 




Frame 


1889-90 
1894-95 









Table No. 2. — Buildings for white schools owned by United States formerly under Bui-eau 
of Education ivhich passed from its control ivhen the toums in whicli they are located 
incorporated under the act of Jane 6, 1900. 



School. 



Cost. 



Character. 



Dimen- 
sions. 



Date of pay- 
ment. 



Fund 
from 
which 
paid. 



Douglas No. 1 $1,200.00 

Douglas No. 2 ! 1, 730. 00 

Juneau No. 1 1 2, 730. 00 



Frame, 1 story . . 

do 

do 



Feet. 
30 bv 20 
30 bv 60 
33i bv 40 



Mav 7,1890 , 1888-89 
Oct. 24,189t) 1 1895-96 
Oct. 23,1888 1884 



SCHOOLS UNDER SUPERVISION OF THE GOVERNOR (eX OFFICIO SUPERINTENDENT). 

Under section 7 of the act of Congress approved January 27, 1905 
(Pul)lic — No. 26), a copy of which is given below, the schools for white 
children at Chignik, Ellamar, Haines, Hope, Seward, Sitka, and Tel- 
ler, together with those for children of mixed blood at Kenai, Kodiak, 
Seldovia, Unalaska, Unga, and Wood Island were placed under the 
direction of the governor. Until the passage of this act schools had 
been conducted at these places by the Bureau of Education. 

[Public— No. 26.] 

AN ACT to provide for the construction and maintenance of roads, the establishment and main- 
tenance of schoolg, and the care and support of in.sane persons in the district of Alaska, and for 
other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America 
in Co)igress assembled, That all moneys derived from and collected for liquor licenses, 
occupation, or trade licenses outside of the incorporated towns in the district of Alaska 
shall l)e deposited in the Treasury Department of the United States, there to remain 
as a separate and distinct fund, to be known as the "x\laska fund," and to be wholly 
devoted to the purposes hereinafter stated in the district of Alaska. One-fourth of 
said fund, or so much thereof as may be necessary, shall Vje devoted to the establish- 
ment and maintenance of public schools in said district; five per centum of said fund 
shall be devoted to the care and maintenance of insane persons in said district, or so 
much of said five per centum as may be needed; and all the residue of said fund 
shall be devoted to the construction and maintenance of wagon roads, bridges, and 
trails in said district. 

Sec 2. That there shall be a board of road commissioners in said district, to be 
composed of an engineer officer of the United States Army to be detailed and 
appointed by the Secretary of War, and two other officers of that part of the Army 
stationed in said district and to be designated by the Secretary of War. The said 
engineer officer shall, during the term of Ids said detail and appointment, a!)ide in said 
district. The said board shall have the power, and it shall be their duty, upon 
their own motion or upon i)etition, to locate, lay out, construct, and maintain wagon 
roads and pack trails from any point on the navigable waters of said district to any 
town, mining or other industrial camp or settlement, or between any suclt town, 



IG EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA, 

camps, or Hettleinents therein, if in tlieir judgment such roads or trails are needed 
and will be of permanent value for the develf)pment of the district; but no such road 
or trail shall be constructed to any town, camp, or settlement which is wholly transi- 
tory or of no substantial value or imi)ortance for mining, tratle, agricultural, or 
manufacturing purposes. 

The said board shall prepare maps, plans, and specilicati<jns of every road or trail 
they may locate and lay out, and whenever more than five thousand dollars in the 
aggregate shall have to be expended on the construction of any road or trail, contract 
for the work shall hv let by them to the lowest responsible l)idder, upon sealed bids, 
after due notice, under rules and regulations to be prescribed by the fr^ecretary of 
War. The board may reject any l)id if they deem the same unreasonably high or if 
they find that there is a combination among bidders. In case no responsible and 
reasonable bid can be secured, then the work may be carried on with material and 
men procured and hired by the board. The engineer officer of the board shall in all 
cases supervise the work of construction and see that the same is properly performed. 
As soon as any road or trail laid out by the board has been constructed and com- 
plete<l they shall examine the same and make a full and detailed report of the work 
done on the same to the Secretary of War, and in such report they shall state whether 
the road or trail has been completed conformable to the maps, plans, and specifica- 
tions of the same. It shall be the duty of said briard, as far as practicable, to keep 
in proper repair all roads and trails constructed under their supervision, and the 
same rules as to the manner in which the work of repair shall be done, whether by 
contract or otherwise, shall govern as in the case of the original construction of the 
road or trail. The cost and expenses of laying out, constructing, and repairing such 
roads and trails shall be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury out of the road and 
trail portion of said "Alaska fund" upon vouchers approved and certified by said 
board. The Secretary of the Treasury shall, at the end of each month, send by 
mail to each of the members of said board a statement of the amount available of 
said "Alaska fund" for the construction and repair of roads and trails, and no 
greater liability for construction or repair shall at any time be incurred by said board 
than the money available therefor at that time in said fund. The members of said 
board shall, in addition to their salaries, be entitled to receive their actual traveling 
expenses paid or incurred by them in the performance of their duties as members of 
the board. 

Sec. 3. That the governor of the district of Alaska shall be ex officio superintend- 
ent of public instruction in said district, and as such shall have supervision and 
direction of the public schools in said district and shall prescribe rules and regula- 
tions for the examination and qualification of teachers, and shall make an annual 
report of the condition of the schools in the district to the Secretary of the Interior. 

Sec. 4. That the common council of the incorporated towns in said district shall 
have the power, and it shall be their duty, in their respective towns to establish 
school districts, to provide the same with suitable schoolhouses, and to maintain 
public schools therein and to provide the necessary funds for the schools; but such 
schools when established shall l)e under the supervision and control of a school 
board of three members, consisting of a director, a treasurer, and a clerk, to be 
elected annually by the vote of all adults who are citizens of the United States or 
who have declared their intention to become such and who are residents of the 
school district. The members of said board first elected shall hold their offices for 
the term of two, and three years, respectively, and until their successors are elected 
and qualified, and one mem'ber of such board shall be elected each year thereafter 
and shall hold his office for a period of three years and until his successor is elected 
and qualified; and they shall each, 1)efore entering upon the tluties of their office, 
take an oath in writing to honestly and faithfully discharge the duties of their trust. 
In case a vacancy in the membership of said board occurs from death, resignation, 
removal, or other cause, such vacancy may be filled by a special election, upon ten 
days' notice, called by the remaining" mem" be rs of the board upon the petition of five 
qualified voters. 

All money available for school purposes, except for the construction and equip- 
ment of schoolhouses and the acquisition of sites for the same, shall be expended 
under the direction of said board, and the treasurer of said board shall be the cus- 
todian of said money, and he shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, give 
his bond, with sufficient sureties, to the school district, in such sum as the common 
council may direct, and subject to its approval, but not less than twice the amount 
that may come into his hands as treasurer, conditioned that he will honestly and 
faithfully disburse and account for all money that may come into his hands as such 
treasurer. The said board shall have the power to hire and employ the necessary 
teachers, to provide for heating and lighting the schoolhouse, and in general to do 
and perform everything necessary for the due maintenance of a proper school. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 17 

Sec. 5. That the clerk of the district court shall have the power, and it shall be 
his dutv, in the division to which he is appointed and in which he resides, upon 
petition as hereinafter specified, to establish by order in writing a school district at 
any camp, village, or settlement outside of the limits of any incorporated town, but 
such school district shall not embrace more than forty square miles of territory nor 
contain less than twenty resident white children between the ages of six and twenty 
years. The said petition shall specify as near as may be the location and boundary 
of the proposed school district, the number of people, the number of families, and 
the number of children between the ages of six and twenty years, resident therein, 
and such other material facts as tend to show the necessity for the establishment of 
the school district. Said petition shall be signed by not less than twelve persons of 
adult age who are citizens of the United States or have declared their intention to 
become such and who reside within the boundaries of the proposed school district. 

If the clerk of the court is satisfied that it is necessary and proper to grant such 
petition, he shall make an order in writing establishing the school district prayed 
for, describing the same and defining its boundaries, and he shall also in said order 
appoint three of the petitioners to supervise and give notice of the first election, and 
shall specify the time and place of the same. The original order shall remain on 
file in the records of the court, and a copy of the same shall be posted at three pub- 
lic places in the school district at least ten days before the election, and such posting 
shall be deemed a sufficient notice of such election. All persons qualified to sign 
said petition shall be qualified to vote at said election. The qualified voters of said 
school district shall at said election choose by a plurality vote a school board of three 
members, consisting of a clerk, a treasurer, and a director, who shall, before enter- 
ing upon the duties of their trust, each take an oath in writing to honorably and 
faithfully discharge the duties of their office. In case a vacancy in the membership 
of said board occurs from death, resignation, removal, or other cause, such vacancy 
may be filled by a special election, upon ten days' notice, called by the remaining 
members of the board upon the petition of five qualified voters. 

The treasurer shall be the custodian of the moneys of the school district, and he 
shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, give his bond to the school dis- 
trict, with sufiicient sureties, to be approved by the clerk of the court, and in such 
sum as he may direct, but not less than twice the amount of money that may come 
into his hands as treasurer, conditioned that he, the treasurer, will honestly and 
faithfully disburse and account for all the money that may come into his hands by 
virtue of his office. Said board shall have the power to build or rent the necessary 
schoolhouse or schoolroom, to equip the same with the necessary furniture and fix- 
tures, to provide fuel and light, to hire and employ teachers, and in general to do 
and perform everything that may be necessary for the maintenance of a public 
school. The members of said board shall hold office for the term of one year and until 
their successors are elected and qualified. An annual election shall be held each 
year, after the first election, for the election of members of said board. As soon as 
the members of said school board have been elected and qualified, they shall send to 
the clerk of the court and file in his office a certificate of their election under the 
hand and seal of the judges or supervisors of election, their oaths of office, and the 
bond of the treasurer, and the clerk of the court shall file said papers and carefully 
keep them as a part of the files and records of his office, and he shall at once send to 
the governor of the district of Alaska a certified copy of said papers, together with a 
certified copy of the order establishing the school district, and the governor shall 
duly file and preserve the same. 

The said board, as soon as they have complied with the requirements aforesaid, 
shall immediately report in writing to the governor the number of children in their 
school district between the ages of six and twenty years that intend to attend a public 
school, and the wages per month for which a teacher can be obtained; and after a 
school has been opened and maintained they shall, at the end of each school term, 
report to the governor in writing the length of the term, the wages paid the teacher, 
the total number of pupils in attendance, and the daily average of such attendance 
at such term. The governor shall assign and set apart to each school district estab- 
lished and organized under the provisions of this section a sum, not less than three 
hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, in proportion to the number 
of pupils in the district, for the construction and equipment of a schoolhouse, which 
sum shall be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury to the treasurer of the school 
district upon the order and voucher of the governor out of that portion of the said 
Alaska fund set apart for the establishment and maintenance of public schools. The 
residue of said portion of said fund, or so much thereof as may be necessary, shall 
by the governor be apportioned among the several school districts established under 
the provisions of this section in amounts sufficient for each district to pay the wages 

S. Doc. 483, 59-1 2 



18 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

of a teacher, together with the expense of fuel and Hght, for five months' school in 
each year. And the amounts so apportioned to each school district shall be paid 
to the treasurer of the district by the Secretary of the Treasury upon the order and 
voucher of the governor out of the said portion of said fund. 

Sec. 6. That the clerks of school districts in the incorporated towns shall, at the 
end of each school term, report to the governor in writing the length of the term, 
the wages paid the teacher, the number of pupils in attendance, and the average daily 
attendance during the term. 

Sec. 7. That the schools specified and provided for in this Act shall be devoted to 
the education of white children and children of mixed blood who lead a civilized 
life. The education of the Eskimos and Indians in the district of Alaska shall remain 
under the direction and control of the Secretary of the Interior, and schools for and 
among the Eskimos and Indians of Alaska shall be provided for by an annual appro- 
priation, and the Eskimo and Indian children of Alaska shall have the same right 
to be admitted to any Indian boarding school as the Indian children in the States or 
Territories of the United States. 

Sec. 8. That commissioners appointed by the judges of the district court in the 
district of Alaska, pursuant to existing laws, shall, as ex officio probate judges and 
in the exercise of their probate jurisdiction, have the power, and it shall be their 
duty, in their respective districts, to commit, by warrant under their hands and 
seals, all persons adjudged insane in their districts to the asylum or sanitarium pro- 
vided for the care and keeping of the insane of the district of Alaska. No person 
ahall be adjudged insane or committed as such, except upon and pursuant to the fol- 
lowing proceedings, to wit: Whenever complaint in writing is made by any adult 
person to a commissioner that there is an insane person at large in the commissioner's 
district, the commissioner shall at once cause such insane person to be taken into 
custody and to be brought before him, and he shall then immediately summon and 
empanel a jury of six male adults, residents of the district, to inquire, try, and deter- 
mine whether the person so complained of is really insane. The members of said 
jury shall, before entering upon the discharge of tlieir duty, each take an oath to 
diligently inquire, justly try, and a true verdict render, touching the mental condi- 
tion of the person charged with being insane. Before entering upon such trial the 
commissioner shall appoint some suitable person to appear for and represent in the 
proceeding the person complained of as insane. And in case there is a physician or 
surgeon in the vicinity who can be procured, the commissioner shall cause such sur- 
geon or physician to examine the person alleged to be insane, and after such exami- 
nation to testify under oath before the jury in respect to the mental condition of said 
person. The commissioner shall preside at said hearing and trial. 

All witnesses that may be offered shall be heard and shall be permitted to testify 
under oath in said matter, and after having heard all the evidence the said jury shall 
retire to agree upon a verdict, and if the jury unanimously, by their verdict in writ- 
ing, find that the said person so charged with being insane as aforesaid is really and 
truly insane and- that he ought to be committed to the asylum or sanitarium aforesaid, 
and the commissioner approves such finding, he shall enter a judgment adjudging the 
said person to be insane and adjudging that he be at once conveyed to and thereafter 
properly and safely kept in the said asylum or sanitarium until duly discharged there- 
from by law. The commissioner shall thereupon, under his hand and seal, issue his 
warrant, with a copy of said judgment attached, for the commitment of said insane 
person to the asylum or sanitarium aforesaid, which warrant shall be delivered to the 
marshal of the division in which said proceedings are had, and shall direct said mar- 
shal to safely keep and deliver said insane person to said asylum or sanitarium, and 
the said marshal, for the service of process in connection with and the guarding and 
transportation of the insane, shall be compensated from the same source and in the 
■same manner as in the case of prisoners convicted of crime. The commissioner, the 
jurymen, and the witnesses in said proceedings shall be entitled to the same compen- 
sation and mileage as in civil actions. And all the compensation, mileage, fees, and 
all other expenses and outlays incident to said proceedings shall be audited and 
allowed by the district judge of the division in which said proceedings are pending 
and had, and when so audited, and allowed shall be paid by the clerk of the court in 
such division as the incidental expenses of the court are by him paid and from the 
same fund. 

Sec. 9. That all Acts and parts of Acts inconsistent with this Act are, to the extent 
of such inconsistency, hereby repealed. 

Approved, January 27, 1905. 

The foregoing act was amended by the act approved March 3, 1905, 
as follows: 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 19 

[Public— No. 224.] 

AN ACT to amend an Act entitled " An Act to provide for the construetion and maintenance of roads, 
the establishment and maintenance of .'schools, and the care and support of insane persons in the 
district of Alaska, and for other purposes." 

Be it enacted hi/ the Senate and House of Bepresentatires of the United States of America 
in Congress assembled, That section four of " An iVct to provide for the construction 
and maintenance of roads, the establishment and maintenance of schools, and the 
care and support of insane persons in the district of Alaska, and for other purposes," 
approved January twenty-seventh, nineteen hundred and five, be, and the same is 
hereby, amended so that it shall read as follows: 

"Sec. 4. That the common council of the incorporated towns in said district shall 
have the power, and it shall be their duty, in their respective towns to establish 
school districts, to provide the same with suitable schoolhouses, and to maintain 
public schools therein and to provide the necessary funds for the schools; but such 
schools when established shall be under the supervision and control of a school 
board of three members, consisting of a director, a treasurer, and a clerk, to be 
elected annually by the vote of all adults who are citizens of the United States or 
who have declared their intention to become such and who are residents of the 
school district. 

''The members of said board first elected .shall hold their offices for the term of one, 
two, and three years, respectively, and until their successors are elected and quali- 
fied, and one member of such board shall be elected each year thereafter and shall 
hold his office for a period of three years and until his successor is elected and quali- 
fied; and they shall each, before entering upon the duties of their office, take an 
oath in writing to honestly and faithfully discharge the duties of their trust. In case 
a vacancy in the membership of said board occurs from death, resignation, removal, 
or other cause, such vacancy may be filled by a special election, upon ten days' 
notice, called by the remaining members of the board upon the petition of five quali- 
fied voters. All money available for school purposes, except for the construction 
and equipment of schoolhouses and the acquisition of sites for the same, shall be 
expended under the direction of said board, and the treasurer of said board shall be 
the custodian of said money, and he shall, before entering upon the duties of his 
office, give his bond, with sufficient sureties, to the school district, in such sumas 
the common council may direct, and subject to its approval, but not less than twice 
the amount that may come into his hands as treasurer, conditioned that he will 
honestly and faithfully disburse and account for all money that may come into 
his hands as such treasurer. The said board shall have the power to hire and 
employ the necessary teachers, to provide for heating and lighting the schoolhouse, 
and in general to do and perform everything necessary for the due maintenance of a 
proper school." 

Approved, March 3, 1905. 

Bej^ond doubt the intention of the authors of the law was to put the 
maintenance and management of white schools into the hands of white 
citizens in their several localities, a plan at once wise and feasible in 
many cases. As the law now stands, however, it works a hardship in 
many instances where native children of mixed blood leading a civilized 
life reside in incorporated towns in which the municipal authorities 
refuse to provide schools for them, as well as in unorganized districts. 
In the latter case there are numerous instances of "white children and 
children of mixed blood who lead a civilized life •'' whose parents are 
too ignorant to organize a school district as the law requires, were 
there no other reasons or influences to keep them from doing- so. 

The act is faulty in another particular, in that it allows the governor 
to provide for only five months' school in a year. In the States this 
would not be such a .serious matter, but in far-ofl" Alaska with its lim- 
ited transportation facilities, and the enormous expenses of living, it 
is next to impossible to find competent teachers who will accept posi- 
tions for five months. Unalaska furnishes a fair example of the work- 
ings of the law in an unorganized district. The United States has 
there a good schoolhouse with two class rooms, and ample accommoda- 



20 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

tions for a family, and for some years a school was maintained by the 
Bureau. The district is not organized, nor is it likely to be, so far as 
I can learn. 

The Russian Orthodox Church maintains a school for its communi- 
cants, but others are left out. It is easy to say that if the people there 
will not comply with the law they ought to be denied schools, ])ut it 
should be borne in mind that many of the parents are intermarried 
with the natives, and, while friendly enough to schools, they are indif- 
ferent to needs of their children. Section 7 of the act should be 
amended so as to provide that the education of the Eskimos, Indians, 
Aleuts, and other native races in Alaska, also the education of children 
of mixed blood in Alaska, shall remain under the direction of the Sec- 
retary of the Interior, etc., and section 5 should be amended by adding 
the words "not less than" to the fourth line from the bottom of said 
section 5 before the word "five," so that as amended it shall read "for 
not less than five months," etc. 

Section 5 of the act (Public — No. 26) requires a petition in writing 
to clerk of district court of not less than twelve adult persons who are, 
or have declared their intention to become, such citizens of the United 
States to organize a school district. The citizenship of natives "of 
mixed blood" has not yet been established; hence they can not, were 
they so disposed, take the initiative in the organization of a school 
district. Said section also provides that a scTiool district shall not 
embrace more than 40 square miles of territory, nor contain less than 
20 resident (white) children, so that a community with 19 white chil- 
dren and numberless children of mixed blood appears to be entirely 
neglected by the act. 

The management of details of Alaskan matters being carried on at 
such long range, much data necessary to an exact financial statement 
can not be received until long after it is really needed to close the 
accounts to a particular date. The statistical tables found herein are 
based upon figures furnished by the Bureau, as are those referring to 
school propert}' and, to some extent, as to salaries. 

Table No. 3 shows that the roll for salaries for the year ending June 
30, 1905, was 140,073.99, and that the amount still due to seven teach- 
ers, whose accounts have not 3^et been rendered, is $1,305. 

Table No. 4 gives the amount expended for the same period for text- 
books and apparatus, 14,961.69; fuel and lights, |3,373.71; for new 
buildings, repairs, and rent, 133,592.56, of which $16,334.27 has been 
expended for new buildings; for traveling expenses, $2,713.51. 

Table No. 5 shows the contracts for teachers and location of schools 
for the year ending ,Iune 30, 1906, the school term in months, the 
salary per month, the total salaries, and the estimated miscellaneous 
expenses for the year, aggregating $44,480. 

Table No. 6 gives a list of the new school buildings authorized by 
the honorable Secretary for the year 1904-5, giving the contract price, 
the pa3nnents already made, and the amounts due upon the acceptance 
of the buildings. 

There were $60,000 set apart by the Secretary of the Interior May 
26, 1904, out of the accumulations in the Treasury for moneys received 
for licenses outside of incorporated towns up to Januar}^ 27, 1905, 
when the act of Congress making a different disposition of this fund 
went into effect. 

Table No. 7 gives a list of school buildings owned by the Govern- 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 21 

ment and used at present for schools for natives, which are under the 
Bureau of Education. 

The school year of .nine months begins with September 1, couse- 
quenth' visiting- officials wlio can onh' be in the district during the 
summer rarely see much of the actual school work. Quite a number 
of the teachers were seen, and it was ascertained that elementary 
instruction is given quite similar to the practice in our Indian day 
schools in the btates as to the general scope at least. 

Ver}' little is done in the way of industrial training, as the term is 
commonly used, be3'ond such incidental training as the girls receive 
by assisting in the household work around the teachers"" residence. 

Eskimos show skill in the manufacture of boats and other requisites, 
and this characteristic is exhibited in a marked degree in ivor}^ carv- 
ings and trinkets. This will apply also to the Thlingets in south- 
eastern Alaska, where some very nice wood carving is done in the 
way of ornamental paddles, totems, and the like, from which a consid- 
erable income is derived at points visited by excursionists. If the 
Eskimos in the Frigid Zone should develop more interest in the rein- 
deer industry their care will afford them profitable occupation. It 
would be a waste of time to teach the industrial trades in the arctic 
and subarctic sections in their present stage of civilization. 

Much of the time of teachers is consumed in teaching pupils to use 
our language, which the}' acquire quickly when it is considered that 
in some schools the teacher is about the only one with whom they 
have a chance to use it. 

Attention is respectfully invited to the following tables, prepared 
from information obtained through the office of the honorable Com- 
missioner of Education. In the main the}^ are correct, although in the 
list of school buildings (Table 7), there are instances where buildings 
authorized, but not yet completed, are entered in such a way as to 
indicate that they are actualh' constructed. Those at Point Barrow 
and Wainwright are not painted, and neither have desks or other fur- 
niture. The lumber for the building at Deering had not arrived when 
I Avas there, the Shishmaref Building had not been commenced, and 
that at Point Hope was only partially done, and nothing whatever has 
been done on the house at Kivalina. The points above cited came under 
my own observation, as did numerous other places where the Gov- 
ernment owns suitable buildings for school purposes. Erecting build- 
ings in northern Alaska is costly business; the materials have to be 
transported from the States in sailing ships, which rarely arrive so 
they can be put up the same year, and it sometimes happens that 
carpenters going north on the first ship in the summer are compelled 
to winter in the Arctic. 

It is reported that the schooner Laura Madst^n^ that took up the 
supplies for Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean points this year, is caught 
in the ice and may not be able to return until next summer. (See 
Exhibit S. letter of Lopp to Jackson.) 



22 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 



Table No. 3. — Alaska school seriice, fiscal year 1904-5. 
SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS. 



Schools. 



Afognak. 
Barrow . . 



Bethel. 



Settles 



Estab- 
lished. 



1886 
1890 



1885 



Carmel 


1888 


Chignik 


1904 


Copper Center 


1904 


Council City.. 


1904 


Deering 


1904 


Ellamar 


1904 


Gambell 


1894 


Golofnin 


1902 


Haines 


1892 


Hoonah 


1895 


Hope 


1904 


Ikogmute 


1904 


Jackson 


1892 


Kake 


1892 


Kasaan 


1902 


Kenai 


1902 


Keviilik 


1905 


Killisnoo 


1886 


Klawock 


1894 


Klinquan 


1902 


Klukwan 


1903 


Kodiak 


1887 



Koserefsky . . . 

Kotzebue 

Nulato 

Petersburg . . , 

Point Hope . . , 
Quartz Creek 



Quinhagat 

Rampart 

Saxman 

Seldovia 

Seward 

Sitka No. 1 
(white school) 



Sitka No. 2 
(native). 

Shakan 

Shismaref . . 

St. Michael. 

Tee Harbor. 

Teller rein 
deer station 

Teller City. 

Unalakleet 

Unalaska.. 



Unga 

Wainwright 
Wales 



Wood Island 

Yakutat 

Yukon 



1901 
1904 
1904 

1905 
1904 



1903 
1904 
1895 
1904 
1904 
1886 



1889 

1904 
1905 
1902 
1904 
1892 

1901 
1902 



1886 
1905 
1890 

1897 
1902 
1904 



Teachers. 



Miss H. E. Breece. 

J. H. Kilbuck 

S. R. Spriggs 

A. R. Helmich 

Joseph Weinlich.. 
Mrs. A. Weinlich . 



/D. W. Cram 

IMrs. D. W. Cram... 



Term. 



9 months . 
12 months 
9 months . 

do. ... 

do.... 

do. ... 

[Aug. 1, 1904, 
to June 30, 
1905. 



Salary 

per 
month. 



(Aug. 1, 1904, 1 
\ to June 30, 1 
t 1905. jj 



Joseph Kahlen 9 months , 

James J. Patten do. 

Mrs. G. S.Clevenger i 7 months . . . 
Mrs. M. B. Young.. do . 



Mrs. A. H. Foster.-! <^o 

Mi.ss M. O. Stevens. . j 9 months . . . 

E.O.Campbell 12 months.. 

Miss A. Hagberg ... 9 months... 

Mi.ss M. Macintosh do 

Mi.ss A. S. Gaddis do 

Mrs. J . Ross do . 

O. L. Gaines 8 months . . . 

F. F. Fellows I 9 months . . . 

Miss M. Darby do 

Mrs. A.R. Moon do 

A.R. Law do 

Mrs. F. C. Craigie do 



Mrs. C. Kilborn 9 months . . . 

' Miss N. G. Edger do 

S. G. Davis , do 

Miss T. Brookman do 

C.I.Kerr 6 months... 

Mrs. C. I. Kerr ! do 

A. J. Markham 9 months . . . 

Miss M. Winifred... do 

Mrs. Otho Thomas .\ do 

Miss N.Stephen do 

Mrs. J. V. McCul- | do 

lough. 



870. 00 

125. 00 

125. 00 

60.00 

80.00 

60.00 

83.33 
83.33 

80.00 
80.00 
80. 00 

100. 00 
80.00 
70.00 

125.00 
60.00 
60.00 
70.00 
50.00 
80.00 

100. 00 
70.00 
60.00 

100.00 
70.00 



Total 
salary. 



1630. 00 

1,500.00 

1,125.00 

540. 00 

720. 00 

540. 00 

al,000.00 
a\, 000. 00 

720.00 
720. 00 
560. 00 
700.00 
560.00 
630.00 
1,. 500. 00 
540. 00 
540. 00 
630. 00 
450. 00 
640. 00 
900.00 
630.00 
540. 00 
900. 00 
630. 00 



Amount due. 



En- 
roll- 
ment. 



Paid in full. 

...do 

...do 

Paid 860 ... . 
Paid in full. 

...do 

PaidtoJune 

30. 
Paid to Mar. 

31. 

$400 

Paid in full. 

....do 

....do 

....do 

....do 

....do 

....do 

....do 

....do 

....do 

....do 

....do 

...-do 

....do 

....do 

....do 



102 
J- 76 



Mrs. L. Reed 

H. A.L. A. Ledfelt.. 
Leo (interpreter) . . . 

Mrs. L. A. Schoehert 

Miss E. B. Parke 

Mrs. J. L. Myers 

H. Farris 

Miss L. L. Kurtz 

D. M.Daum 

Miss C. Duncan 

MissR. M. Caleb... 
Miss J. Rice 



4 months . . 

2 months .. 

3 months . . 

6 months . . 
9 months .. 

7 months .. 

8 months . . 

9 months .. 

do 

do 

8 months .. 

9 months . . 



60.00 
70.00 
50.00 
70.00 
80.00 
50.00 
60.00 
60.00 
80.00 
60.00 
70.00 



540. 00 
630.00 
450. 00 
630. 00 
480. 00 
300.00 
540.00 
540.00 
720. 00 
540.00 
630.00 



80.00 \ 
80.00 J 
20. 00 60. 00 



80. 00 
100.00 
60.00 
70.00 
90.00 
111. 00 
7.5.00 
75.00 
75.00 



Fred Chase. 



V. L. Derbv . 
H. De Witt . . 
L. Larson . . . 



E. B. Orbell 

Miss H. E. Olsen . 

M. Ivanoff 

W. A. Davis 

Mrs. W. A. Davis. 
James C. Paten . . 



A. N. Evans 

T. Illayok 

Miss A. G. Curtis. 

E. Rasmussen 

F. E. Willard 



Total 140,073.99 



.do 80.00 



9 months . . 

5 months . . 
12 months . 

6 months . . 
9 months .. 

do 

do 

do 

do 



100. 00 
40.00 
80.00 

90.00 
60.00 
33.33 
80.00 
60.00 
80.00 



9 months . . 

do 

do 

do 

do 



100. 00 
40.00 
70.00 
60.00 

111.11 



480. 00 



Paid in full. 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 



480.00 
900.00 
420. 00 
560. 00 
810. 00 
999. 00 
675. 00 
600.00 
675. 00 



Salaries un- 
paid pend- 
ing receipt 
of reports. 

Paid in full. 

....do 

....do 

870 due 

Paid in full. 

....do 

8175 due 

Paid in full. 

....do 



720.00 do. 



900.00 
200. 00 
960.00 

540.00 
540. 00 
300.00 
720. 00 
540. 00 
720. 00 



Paid in full. 

do 

do 



do... 

rio \ 

do \] 

do 1 

do J 

$160 due I 



900. 00 
360. 00 
630. 00 
.540. 00 
999. 99 



Paid in full. 

do 

do 

do 

do 



1,305.00 3,018 



174 
15 
31 
53 
95 
49 
15 



104 

164 
40 
54 



74 
15 
23 

23 
261 

51 
31 



108 

50 
52 
24 



a Per year. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 23 

Table No. 4. — Alaska school service, fiscal year 1904-5. 
EXPENSES OTHER THAN SALARIES. 





Schools. 


Text-books 
and appa- 
ratus. 


Fuel and 
light. 


New build-i 
ings, re- 
pairs and 
rent. 


Traveling 
expenses. 


1 




S142. 40 




S123. 34 


9 






$3, 181. 69 




^ 


Bethel . . 








4 


Settles 


366.36 


S18. 76 
63.00 


2,314.82 


215.75 


■> 






6 




132. 60 
393.99 




161. 55 






45.00 


859. 70 




s 






q 




341. 90 
33.75 


62.00 


2,484.98 




10 




27.00 


n 










v 




107. 83 
69.60 
29.30 

147.66 

133. 17 
24.59 
51.16 
39.25 

132.80 






IS 




34.00 
44.00 




119. 45 


11 




2.75 




15 




57.00 


16 




64.00 
42.40 




66.90 


17 




1,688.94 


102. 80 


18 






19 




67.00 
24.70 


33.20 
14.00 

2,644.48 
90.00 
37.85 

1, 400. 65 




''O 




28.50 


?1 






90 




15.24 

111. 85 

31.20 

29.90 

108.60 

62.60 

68.00 

273. 95 

135. 05 


27.00 

105. 60 

33.65 

24.25 




''S 




68.70 


94 






9t 




57.55 


''6 




160. 00 


119. 00 


97 




554.00 




'•H 




2, 870. 77 




9C) 




105.00 

48.75 




'^O 








SI 




2, 217. 82 




3'^ 






262.46 






33 










34 




107.30 
61.21 
264.68 
101.20 
116.36 


126. 75 
28.25 
12.00 


191.46 


11.00 


35 






36 




30.50 


47.66 


37 




21.55 


38 


Sitka, No. 1 


339.66 


38.87 


313.47 


39 






40 


Shakan 


156. 51 


51.00 


1,310.40 

3,599.73 

2, 798. 83 

703. 39 


33.75 


41 






4'> 




41.25 
260.76 
120.00 




285. 85 


43 




18.00 
250.00 
110.00 


8.00 


44 






45 






46 




101. 66 

98.10 

1.50 


1 


47 




429. 80 


159. 95 




48 




70.00 


49 






2, 808. 29 
1,999.69 


110.00 


50 


Wales 


123. 66 
22.80 
46.35 

133. 18 


417. 50 

122. 40 

37.00 

89.00 


562. 35 


51 






5'' 








53 




50.00 


103.00 










4,961.69 


3,373.71 


33, 592. 56 


2,713.61 









Note.— The present balance of the fund for school.s outside incorporated towns in Alaska is 
842.933.15. from which outstanding bills for erection of new buildings and miscellaneous expenses are 
to be paid. 



24 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

Table No. 5. — Alaska school service, fiscal year 1905-6. 





Schools. 


Teachers. 


Term. 


Salary 

per 
month. 


Total 
salaries. 


Miscel- 
laneous 
expenses 

(esti- 
mated). 


1 


Afognak 


Miss Hannah E. Breece... 
V. L. Derbv 


9 months . . . 
do 


870.00 

100. 00 
60.00 
60. 00 
60.00 
80.00 
80.00 
80.00 

125. 00 
60.00 
60.00 
50.00 
60.00 
60.00 

100. 00 
60.00 
80.00 
60.00 
60.00 
60.00 
60.00 
60.00 
80.00 
60.00 
80. 00 
60.00 
60.00 
65. 00 
80.00 
90.00 
60.00 
90.00 
60.00 
33. 33 

110. 00 
90.00 
60.00 
60.00 
65.00 


8630. 00 
900. 00 
.540. 00 
.540. 00 
.540. 00 
400. 00 
720. 00 
640. 00 

1, 500. 00 
540. 00 
540. 00 
450. 00 
540. 00 
540. 00 
800. 00 
540. 00 
720. 00 
540. 00 
.540.00 
540. 00 
540. 00 
540. 00 
720. 00 
540. 00 
320. 00 
300. 00 
420. 00 
585. 00 
720. 00 
810. 00 
540. 00 
900. 00 
540. 00 
300. 00 

1,320.00 
810. 00 
540. 00 
540. 00 
.585. 00 


8200. 00 


•^ 




500.00 


3 


Bethel 


B. K. Hilmich 


do 

do 


1 






[ 200.00 




Mrs. A. Weiiilich 


do 




4 




5 months ... 
9 months ... 

8 months . . . 
12 months . . 

9 months ... 

do 


200.00 


5 




Mrs. G. S. Clevenger 

Miss Bertha Cox 


300.00 


6 


Deering 

Gambell 


500. 00 


7 


E. 0. Campbell 


.500. 00 


8 






200. 00 


q 


Haines o 


Miss M. Mackintosh 


1.50. 00 


10 




Mrs. M. J. Ross 


do 


1.50. 00 


11 


Jackson a 




do 


200. 00 


1? 


Kake a 


Mrs. A. R. Moon 

A. R. Law 

Mrs. C. Kilborn 

Mrs. A. Walton 

Mrs. N. G. Edgar 

Mrs. J. V. McCullough 


do 

8 months . . . 

9 months . . . 

do 

do 

do 

do 


200. 00 


13 


Kassan a 


200. 00 


14 




200. 00 


-15 


Kivalina 


500. 00 


16 


Klawock a 


200. 00 


17 




200. 00 


18 


Kliikwan « 


200. 00 


1<^ 


Ko.serefskv 




.do 


350.00 




Kotzebue 




. ...do 




?0 


Mrs. Otha Thomas 

Miss M. Stephen 

A. E. McLean 

Mrs. L. A. Schoechert 

Miss Laura Oakes 

Miss R. McCaleb 

F. Chase 

F. Moses 


do 

do 

4 months . . . 

5 months . . . 

7 months ... 

9 months . . . 

.... do 

do 

do 


500. 00 


21 


Nulato 


350.00 
200. 00 


?3 


Quinhaget 


100. 00 


24 
25 
26 
?7 


Saxman" 

Sitkaa 

Shakan a 

St. Michael a 


1.50. 00 
200. 00 
200. 00 
300.00 


?8 


Tee Harbor 


200.00 


•?9 


Teller 


T. L. Brevig 


10 months .. 
9 months ... 
do 


300. 00 


30 


Unalakleet 


Miss H. E. Olson 


300. 00 




Wainwright 

Wales 

Wrangell « 






31 


J. H. Kilbuck .... 


12 months . . 
9 months . . . 
do 


500. 00 


3? 


A. N. Evans 


500.00 


33 




200. 00 


34 


Yakutat" 




do 


200.00 


35 


Yukon 


Miss L. J. Woods 


do 


300.00 




Total 






24, 270. 00 


9, 650. 00 






1 







a Salaries terminable at a month's notice. Amounts saved if schools close January 1, 1906: 



Haines 8300 

Jackson 300 

Kake 300 

Kasaan 500 



Killi.snoo 8300 

Klawock 300 

Klinquan 300 

Klukwan 300 



Saxman 8300 \\ Wrangell . 

Sitka 325 ' Yakutat... 

Shakan 400 

Tee Harbor 300 I Total . 



8300 
300 



4, .525 



SALARIES OF OFFICIALS AND EMPLOY'EES IN OFFICE, 'g: 



Sheldon Jackson, general agent 82, 500. 00 

William Hamilton, assistant agent 1,700.00 

William A. Kellv, district .superintendent 1, 500. 00 

Walter Shields, clerk 960. 00 

Mrs. L. E. Condron, stenographer 900.00 



Total 7, 560. 00 



SUMMARY. 

Appropriation 

Salaries of teachers 824, 270. 00 

Salaries of officials and clerks 7, 560. 00 

Traveling expenses, estimated 3, Oi'0. 00 

Miscellaneous 9, 6.50. 00 

Reserved for expenses, special agent. 5, 000. 00 

Balance 



850, 000. 00 



49, 480. 00 
520. 00 



EDUCATIOXAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC., IX ALASKA. 



25 



Table No. 6. 



-L 

the 



■ist of school buildings auihonzed by the Secretary of the Inferior from 
refund, " Schools outside incorporated toivns, Alaska." 



Location. 



Date author- 
ized. 



Limit of 
cost. 



Contract 
price. 



Amount 
paid. 



Amount 
due. 



Barrow Mar. 31, 1904 

Bettles Aug. 4,1905 

Copper Center Mar. 31,1904 

Deering June 12, 1905 

Haines : July '26,1905 

Jackson Aug. 3,1905 

Kake Aug. 12, 1905 

Killisnoo Aug. 2, 1905 

Kivalina ] Apr. 18,1905 

Klawock June 12, 1905 

Klinquan - I do 

Kotzebue 

Point Hope 

Shakan 

Shismaref 

St. Michael 

Tee Harbor 

Wainwright 

Wales 

Wrangell 



Total. 



Apr. 27,1904 
Mar. 31,1904 
June 12,1905 
Apr. 18,1905 
Apr. 27,1904 
Mar. 31,1904 

do 

Apr. 27,1904 
June 12, 1905 



84, 000. 00 
3,114.82 
4, 000. 00 
5, 000. 00 



5,000.00 



5, 000. 00 



4,000.00 
4,000.00 



5, 000. 00 
4,500.00 
702. 89 
4, 000. 00 
4, 000. 00 



m, 276. 00 



56,. 571. 29 

3,114.82 

799. 70 

2,484.98 



4,985.00 
3, 795. 00 



1,686.69 



2, 080. 00 
1,3.50.00 



2, 544. 48 



2, 080. 00 



1,350.00 
5, 419. 93 
4,680.74 
1 , 310. 40 
3, .599. 73 
.5,153.95 
702. 89 
2, 958. 29 
5, 026. 67 



5, 605. 00 



52, 317. 71 23, 170. 00 



47,404.56 



S5, 030. 00 
a 2, 51.5. 02 
3, 275. 00 
1,813.31 
4, 985. 00 
3,795.00 
a 2, 4.55. 52 
2, 080. 00 



769. 60 
a 1,400. 27 



a 1,041. 71 
"'6,' 605* 66 



34,765.43 



a Estimated, all bills not yet received. 



Limit of cost S52, 317. 71 

Contract price 23, 170. 00 



Total 75,487.71 



Amount paid S47, 404. 56 | Total expenses. 

Amount due 34,765.43 



Total 82,169.99 



$82, 169. 99 
Authorized 75, 487. 71 

Excess 6, 682. 28 



Table No. 7. — List of school buildings owned bij the United States for use as schools for 
natives in Alaska, under the Bureau of Education. 



Location. 



Character. 



Date of payment. 



Afognak 

Barrow 

Bettles 

Copper Center. 

Deering | a 

Gambell 

Haines c 

Hoonah 

Jackson « 

Juneau 6 

Kake 

do j c 

Killisnoo ! <■ 

Kivalina ' c 

Klawock c 

Klinquan | 

Kotzebue i a 

Point Hope ' a 

Saxman 

Shismaref { a 

Sitka. No. 1 

Shakan <• 

St. Michael « 

Tee Harbor 

Teller 

Unalakleet ' 

Wainwright a 

Wales a 

Wrangell e 



2, 505. 00 
4, 000. 00 
3,114.82 
4,000.00 
5, 000. 00 
1,000.00 
3, 275. 00 
1,8.50.00 
5, 000. 00 
1,300.00 
li 376. 86 
4, 985. 00 
3,795.00 
5, 000. 00 
2, 080. 00 
1,350.00 
4, 000. 00 
4, 000. 00 
1,780.00 
5, 000. 00 
1,. 537. 20 
2, 080. 00 
4, .500. 00 
703. 39 
1,000.00 
1, 800. 26 
4, 000. 00 
4, 000. 00 
5, 605. 00 



Frame, 1 story I Dec. 6, 1900. 

Frame, li stories Final payment not made. 

Log, 1 story Feb. 24, i905. 

do I Final payment not made. 

Frame, 1^ stories ] Do. 

do ! Oct. 31, 1891. 

do Final payment not made. 

Frame, 1 story Sept. 8, 1897. 

Frame, U stories | Final payment not made. 

Frame, 1 .storv ! Oct. 13, 1894. 

Log, 1 story ■ July 18, 1891. 

Frame, U stories Final payment not made. 

do Do. 

do ' Do. 

do Do. 

Frame, 1 storv Oct. 14, 1905. 



Frame, H stories. 

do 

do 

do 

Frame, 1 story . . . 

Frame, li stories. 
do 

Frame, 1 storv ... 
do 

Frame, H stories. 

do 

do 

do 



Total , 88,637.-53 



Final pavment not made. 

Do. 
Nov. 27, 1895. 
Final payment not made. 
Dec. 14, 1888. 
Final payment not made. 

Do. 
Dec. 21, 1904. 
Jan. 31, 1893. 
May 15, 1903. 
Final pavment not made. 

Do. 

Do. 



a Limit of cost 

bSchool not In session. 

c Contract price. 

d Building not in use. 

Note 1.— At Bethel, Carniel. Gi)lofnin, Kasaan, Klukwan, Koserefsky, Nulato, Nushagak, Quin- 
hagat, Yakutat. and Yukon, this Bureau maintains schools for natives in buildings provided by resi- 
dents without cost to the Government. 

Note 2.— Further details regarding the school buildings in course of erection will be furnished in 
Table No. 6. 



26 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

The Eskimos have been described as a nomadic race; it is true they 
go about hunting food, but they return to their little settlement where 
they have igloos, or huts, in which they are domiciled, so they have 
places which are homes to them, miserable as they are. 

Just what should be done to help these people is a problem of no 
small importance. Missionaries have their field, and it is a large and 
honorable one, but their field fails to cover all the needs of these 
hungry natives, whose lot has been cast in the most desolate and bar- 
ren place imaginable. 

Food, clothing, and medical treatment should not be lost sight of in 
our etiorts to aid them, for relief for physical needs goes a long ways 
in teaching what we call civilization. Food and doctors, and the 
example of strong and upright men, will accomplish as much in north- 
ern Alaska as anywhere. 

One could not see, as I did at Point Barrow, a bright little girl of 
probably about 12 years, suffering untold agony from a dislocated hip 
and a broken leg, of too longstanding to be relieved by the ship's sur- 
geon in the few hours he was permitted to remain, without feeling that 
real love for the human race could be exemplified in caring for that 
child quite as effectually as by trying to teach the moral law to her 
pagan parents. 

In time, if properl}^ looked after, the reindeer will supply both food 
and clothing to the entire population of natives, although from choice 
much of their food will always be taken from the sea. The rule should 
be made and enforced that the deer are for the natives only, and to 
be put into their hands as rapidly as circumstances will warrant. 

If the Government is to meet the expenses the work of disbursing 
the funds should be entirely in its hands; unless a general subsidy plan 
is considered by Congress as the wiser course, there should be no mid- 
dle ground. 

SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT. 

Mr. William A. Kelley, for manj^ years connected with the Presby- 
terian Boarding School at Sitka, where he now has his home, has been 
employed for some time as district school superintedentin southeastern 
Alaska at a salary of $1,200 a year. In character he is above reproach, 
but one soon learns that he has been less active in looking after the 
advancement of pupils in the schools and the temporal welfare of the 
natives than these subjects demand. No one doubts his utter subserv- 
ience to the denomination from which he has for so long derived his 
living, either directly or indirectly. A younger or more active man 
is needed for this position, one who will act impartially and with alac- 
rit}^ for the good of the public service in a manner independent of 
personal or party alliances. 

The fact that the Department really derives its original information 
from the superintendent in the held is sufficient to denote the impor- 
tance of having for this position a man who is robust in health and 
sufficiently strong to act upon his own opinions without fear or favor. 

LEGISLATION. 

In addition to proposed amendments to the Nelson Act (Public — No. 
26), to which your attention is respectfully directed, something should 
be done in the way of protecting the Alaskan natives from the terrible 



EDUCATIOXAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 27 

effects of the whisky which, it is reported, is brought, into the arctic 
belt at least, mostly by unscrupulous whalers. It is generally secured 
at a time when Eskimos should be laj^ing by their winter supply of 
food. Under the present laws furnishing- whisky to natives is rated 
as a misdemeanor only, for which the penalty is not severe. 

I can assure 3 ou the traffic is exceptionally objectionable in Alaska. 

SPECIAL AGENT AT HANCOCK, MICH. 

In the list of employees for the reindeer service the name of Mr. 
J. H. Jasberg, of Hancock, Mich., is found on the roll as a special 
agent at a salary of $500 a 3"ear. 

The salary is a very modest one, but thus far I have been unable to 
ti-ace out any service performed by him in Alaska, but have been 
informally advised that he is an agent to employ help for the Govern- 
ment. He may have other duties valuable and necessary, of the nature 
of which I have no knowledge, which can be explained b\^ the Bureau 
of Education. Should it be ascertained that he performs no service 
other than that of "emplo^'ing help for the Government" there would 
appear to be no reason for retaining his services, and I suggest that 
the honorable Secretary ask for information on this subject, if he is 
not already f ull v informed. Attention is respectfully directed to Table 
No. 10 of this report, which shows salaries incident to the reindeer 
service. 

SCHOOL FOR NATIVE CHILDREN. 

Under provisions of the present law 36 schools are supposed to be 
in operation under the Bureau, as follows: Afognak, Barrow, Bethel, 
Carmel, Copper, Center, Deering, (lambell, Golovin, Haines, Hoonah, 
Ikogmute, Jackson, Kake, Kasaan, Killisnoo, Klawock, Klinquan, 
Klukwan, Koserefsky, Kotzebue, Nulato, Petersburg, Quinhagak, 
Rampart, Saxman,** Sitka, Shakan, St. Michael, Tee Harbor, Teller 
Station, Unalakleet, Wainwright, Cape Prince of Wales, Wrangell, 
Yakutat, Yukon. 

SCHOOLS FOR WHITE CHILDREN AND CHILDREN OF MIXED BLOOD. 

Schools at the following places will be under the direction of the 
governor of Alaska b}" the authorit}^ of the Nelson Act: Those for 
whites at Chignik, Ellamar, Haines, Hope (not Point Hope), Seward, 
Sitka, Teller Village, and those for mixed bloods at Kenai, Kodiak, 
Seidovia, Unalaska, Unger, and Wood Island. 

In addition to all the schools mentioned there are a few, and only a 
few, mission schools, the number of which is not known; but it is 
apparent that it has been the policy of the Bureau, so far as it could 
do so, to directly or indirectly subsidize all schools claimed by the 
missions to the extent in some instances of erecting schoolhouses and 
pajnng the entire salaried expense. It is a pleasure to be able to 
report that the officials of the Russian Church now look upon the 
Government schools with favor, which is a hopeful sign regarding 
general education in Alaska. 

« There is no teacher at Saxman, which is near Ketchikan, and it is understood 
that the natives have moved to Ketchikan. 



28 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

It has been explained that it would be a physical impossibility for 
any one person to visit all of the points where schools are conducted in 
any one year on account of transportation required and the limited 
number of days when navigation is open; it is therefore desirable, as 
will be noted in my recommendations, that there should be two local 
superintendents, that a complete inspection of the field can be made 
at least once a year. The great Yukon River is navigable in summer 
for nearly 2,500 miles, and it is stated that the densest population is 
along that valley and that the section is being rapidl}- developed. 

At the time of my visit to the governoi- of Alaska no definite plans 
had been settled upon, but enough was learned through interviews 
with interested parties along the southern coast to indicate that, until 
the law is so amended that a teacher may be employed for more than 
five months in a calendar year, it will be difficult to secure acceptable 
teachers, principally on account of the extraordinary expenses and 
loss of time required to meet some of the school points. 

KODIAK ISLAND. 

Kodiak has appeared conspicuously on the map since our earliest 
knowledge of Alaska, and at one time it was the Russian headquarters, 
or capital. For generations the Russians, whites, and Aleut natives 
have intermarried, so that, strictly speaking, a large part of the popu- 
lation of school age can properly be classed as ""whites or mixed 
bloods, leading a civilized life." Kodiak being on the regular line of 
ships may have served as a model upon which to frame the Nelson Act, 
which seems to fit this place nicely. The Government owns a school- 
house here which has cost $2,700. 

AFOGNAK. 

Opportunity was afl'orded me to land at Afognak, where the Gov- 
ernment has a very good school building and dwelling combined, which 
cost $2,505. The building is in good order and is kept with excep- 
tional neatness by the teacher, Mrs. H. C. Breece. Of the 55 pupils 
enrolled, 26 are full bloods and 29 mixed l)loods. The Russian Ortho- 
dox Church has good Innldings here and the clergy in charge are veiy 
friendly to this school. The natives of Afognak, which is one of the 
old Russian villages, seem to live very comfortably from fishing for 
salmon and hunting the sea otter in a coimiiercial way. The tempera- 
ture here is comparatively mild. I found the people well dressed and 
apparently well housed. The skins of the sea otter bring from $300 
up to $500 and more each, but the}' are now very scarce. 

TRANSPORTATION OF SUPPLIES. 

The transportation of fuel and food supplies to Arctic Ocean and 
Bering Sea points, where there are several schools, and where the 
most of the deer are held, has been and will continue to be a matter of 
vital importance and at times of much solicitude. All supplies, includ- 
ing coal and lumber, must be taken from the States, and it is quite 
essential, from an economic view, that merchandise be shipped direct 
to destination. As is now well known, there arc no docks nor harbors 
in these northwestern waters, and the lighterage or transfer from one 
ship to another is both expensive and dangerous, even were the ships 
to be had. There is an occasional year when no ships, not even the 
revenue cutters, can proceed to our most northern school. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 29 

For a long time the Bureau has been purchasing food supplies, etc., 
of S. Foster &Co., in San Francisco. This concern owns the schooner 
Laura Madseiu which makes an annual cruise to the Arctic with these 
supplies, thus giving the tirm a sort of monopol}' on the Bureau's car- 
rying business, at the same time reasonable assurance that the goods 
will be delivered. Foster & Co. are wholesale dealers in provisions, 
but upon request have acted as agents in bu3dng for the Bureau lum- 
ber, coal, dry goods, and whatever has been \> anted by the school 
employees and missionaries. The freight charge on such goods is $25 
per ton to Arctic points, and $20 to Bering Sea points, 1,000 feet of 
lumber being rated as 1 ton, and -iO cubic feet for a ton on bulky 
articles, all to be landed on the beach. The tirm have in a few cases 
given what is termed "ships-tackle" rates of freight, which means 
that the consignee takes his merchandise on the ship and gets it ashore 
through the surf as best he can. This rate averages about $5 per ton 
less than '"shore delivery." 

Complaints of overcharges have been made against Foster & Co., 
and it has been insinuated that an officer of the Bureau of Education 
is a stockholder in Foster & Co.'s business. So far as this latter com- 
plaint goes I find it groundless. 

Foster <fc Co. insure all merchandise shipped, and charge premium 
on same to their customers. The underwriters' rate is 2i per cent 
under deck and 4^ per cent on deck freight. 

We saw the Laura Madsen several times in Arctic waters discharg- 
ing freight. Her cargo this year for Government stations and indi- 
viduals was insured for $35,350, at a cost of $911.25. 

I waited on Foster & Co. in San Francisco, who told me they had 
never been required to submit bids for supplies furnished the Gov- 
ernment in Alaska, and that they had been paid upon vouchers sub- 
mitted in the ordinary business way, through the Bureau of Education. 

The Treasury Department having refused to allow the charges for 
insuring goods purchased by the Bureau, and Foster & Co. being 
required to guarantee delivery, the latter have insured the same in 
their own name and indirectly charged the expense to the Govern- 
ment b}' adding enough to the regular prices of goods to cover it. I 
went through the firm's books for the years 1904 and 1905, and found 
prices raised on a few articles as follows: 

May 25, 1904, Point Barrow, $524.82 to $534.72 $9. 88 

May 25, 1904, Point Barrow, $503.83 to $528.89 25. 06 

Mav 31, 1904, Point Hope, $486.51 to $495.19 8. 68 

May 31, 1904, Kotzebue, $209.77 to $215.01 . ! 5. 24 

May—, 1904, Kotzebue, $493.36 to $497.10 8.88 

Mav — 1904, Gambel (St. Lawrence Island), $2,166.08 to $2,181.58 15.50 

May 31, 1904, Cape Prince of Wales, $486.52 to $498.05 12. 53 

85.77 

The company has charged $1 per thousand profit on lumber bought 
for the Government, and 10 cents per thousand on shingles. 

May 15, 1905, Kevilik, $2,574.63 to $2,624.48 $50. 25 

Mav 15, 1905, Wainwright, $606.29 to $656.59 50. 30 

May 15, 1905, Wainwright Coal Workings, $1 25.58 to $130.58 5. 00 

May 15, 1905, Point Barrow, $967.12 to $991.61 24.49 

Mav 15, 1905, St. Lawrence Islands, $1,959.70 to $1,994.03 35. 33 

May 15, 1905, Shismareff , $2,001.82 to $2,025.90 50. 08 

215. 45 
Total for two years, $301. 22. 



30 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

The Bureau of Education hold.s, and with much force, that the only 
safe plan is to buy supplies for the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean points 
of a reliable concern, with a ship to transport the same, and that 
Foster & Co. have thus far been the onl}' concern to undertake the 
work. Of course this g-ives Foster & Co. a monopoly, and 1 am not 
prepared to saj^ that they have been overpaid for their services on the 
average, however much the idea of giving the trade to one firm with 
no questions asked as to prices may be offensive as to principle. 

One failure of a ship loaded with supplies to reach destination in 
the Arctic might result in much suffering and even loss of life. The 
entire amount of goods purchased is not so large as to attract com- 
petition, or even a division of the trade, as it would involve buying in 
every instance of a firm with a ship at command. Elsewhere reference 
is made to the desirability of having a Government ship carrj^the sup- 
plies, which is submitted for consideration. 

The raise in figures, amounting to §301. 22, is derived from raising 
the prices on five articles, as follows: Pilot bread, from 4 to •i^ cents a 
pound; coffee, from 12^ to 17i cents per pound; tea, from 22i cents 
to 35 cents per pound; flour, from $8.50 per barrel to $9 per barrel; 
rice, from 4 cents to 5 cents per pound. 

SCHOOLS FOR NATIVES IN INCORPORATED TOWNS. 

The natives do not seem to be verj^ welcome in the incorporated 
towns and the children of native parents are not admitted in the town 
schools. While it may not be best in same particulars for the natives 
to drift to the white villages, they will do so to sell whatever they 
may have in the way of furs, ivorv, and trinkets that will bring money. 

I found a good man}^ of them in Nome, where they pick up some- 
thing from tTieir labor, which is more or less in demand in summer. 
If, as is suggested herein, a hospital for natives were built at Nome 
there might be connected with it a da}" school and the whole put under 
the charge of a ph3^sician, who could conduct the school, as there would 
be much of the time when there need be no patients requiring attention. 

The whole outlaj^ for a suitable building need not be over $6,000 or 
$8,000. 

SCHOOLS IN EASTERN ALASKA. 

After visiting northwestern points and familiarizing myself as far as 
possible with the reindeer question, I proceeded eastward along the 
coast from Dutch Harbor and Unalaska. 

Brief stops were made at Bellkofsky, Cold Harbor, Sand Point, 
linger, Chignik, Cold Bay, Karluk, Uyak, Afognak, Kodiak, llianma, 
Homer, Seldovia, Seward, La Touche Island, Ellamar, Vaidez, Nutchek, 
Orca, Kayak, Yakutat, to Sitka, after which short stops were made at 
Hoonah, Funter Bay, Juneau, Berners Bay, Skagway, Wrangell, 
Ketchikan, and some other unimportant places. 

The tables herein furnish the statistical information concerning such 
schools as have been maintained at these points, and a list has been 
presented of the schools that under the Nelson Act are transferred from 
the supervision of the Bureau to that of the governor. There are man}" 
reasons pointing to the wisdom of having all the schools outside of the 
incorporated towns under one management, and I know of no reason 
of any considerable weight why such an arrangement should not, in 
the interest of economy and good government, be brought about. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 31 

SCHOOLS AT SITKA. 

Attention is respectfully^ invited to the wa}'^ the schools in Sitka have 
been managed in the past, when they were entireh' under the control 
of the Bureau. The Presbyterian board has here a boarding- school 
with from 100 to 150 pupils, and for several 3"ears this school received 
from the Government more or less financial aid, and in some years as 
much as $15,000, but, as 1 understand it has received nothing for 
some time past. The Bureau has, however, supported three other 
schools here, as follows: One school for natives, which last year had 
an enrollment of 48, was provided with a teacher at $75 per month; 
one school for whites, with an enrollment of 16, had a teacher at $75 
a month; and a second school for whites, with an enrollment of 8, had 
a teacher at $111.11 a month. Upon inquir}' it was ascertained that 
3 of the 8 pupils were the children of the governor of the district, and 
most of the others were the children of well-to-do white people. The 
Bureau claims that the teacher of the S pupils was employed to teach 
the higher grades and to act as superintendent of the other schools. 
So far as the latter service goes, the position must be regarded as a 
sinecure. 

I know of no adverse criticism that should be made as to the quality 
of service rendered by the teachers employed, but it is plain that none 
but such as were personall}' acceptable to Governor Brady and Doctor 
Jackson have been emploj^ed. Under the law the governor will now 
have charge of the schools for whites, "and the Bureau will maintain 
that for the natives, which, with the boarding school mentioned, makes 
three classes of schools in the little village of Sitka, and in the event 
that Sitka should incorporate, a fourth would be created to take the 
place of the schools which are now under the care of the governor. 

To the above enumeration of schools in Sitka should be added that 
of the Russian Orthodox Church, which is confined to the children of 
its adherents. From years of intercourse with English-speaking 
people the natives about Sitka speak English more or less, and dress 
and live more like the whites than at an}' other points visited, except- 
ing at Kodiak and the Priblof Islands, and they appear to be com- 
fortable and Avell fed. 

UNITED STATES REVENUE-CUTTER SERVICE. 

For many years after Alaska was acquired by the United States, the 
country was dependent upon the United States Revenue-Cutter Serv- 
ice for most of its authentic information regarding the district. The 
cutters have made, with the exception of three or four years, an annual 
trip through the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean, and carried pretty much 
all that was known of law, order, and Governmental authority in that 
far-awa}^ country. 

In the early days the cutters carried the only mail and communica- 
tion with the outside world to the few whites in the Far North; and 
this is true at the present time as to several points, with the exception 
of an occasional whaling ship. 

The cutters are under the control of the Treasury Department, which 
Department has always manifested a willingness to convey teachers, 
missionaries, and other employees of the Government, as well as 



32 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SEEVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

in.spccting officials, on their regular annual cruises. By way of point- 
ing out the difficulties to be encountered, especially by inspecting offi- 
cials, it should be said that there are no docks in the Bering Sea or 
Arctic Ocean north of the Aleutian Islands and only one safe harbor 
on the American side. The cutters have their regular duties to per- 
form and can rarely reach the extreme northern point, at Point Bar- 
row, until the ver}^ last of Jul}^, and even then they are often in danger 
of being caught in the ice floe; indeed, I believe that there have been 
three years, since Alaska was acquired, when the ice prevented reach- 
ing Point Barrow at all, so that the prudent commanders of these 
vessels feel the need of making all possible haste while sailing in those 
waters. Consequently only the briefest stops are made. It should 
be remembered also that for want of harbors and docks it is necessary 
for anchorage to be made at points from one to two miles from shore, 
where landings must be made by going over the side of the ship, by 
the aid of hand lines, into rowboats. This works well when the 
weather is good, but when heavy seas are on, or the wind "on shore," 
sufficient for a heavy surf, the undertaking is always hazardous and 
frequently dangerous, and, I should add, sometimes impossible. 

Under such conditions it is but natural that the commanders, as well 
as the inspecting officials, sometimes conclude that the onl}^ safe course 
is not to attempt to make a landing; but even when landings have been 
successfully made a slight change of wind may make the return diffi- 
cult, and it will be readily seen also that all concerned feel actually 
compelled to complete their business on shore with all possible haste. 
Were it possible to arrange for the school and reindeer inspections 
to be taken up less hurriedly much good would result, as the local 
emplo3"ees always have many questions to be solved which can not, in 
the nature of things, be as fully discussed as they should be. 

It is a pleasure to record the cheerful service that has been rendered 
by the Revenue-Cutter Service in the past. I feel qualified to speak 
on this subject, having at different times met officers who have been 
in the service ever since the inception of the idea of introducing deer 
into Alaska. 

The cruise of 1905 of the cutter Beai\ upon which it w^as my privi- 
lege to travel, was no exception to those which preceded it, so far as a 
genuine sympathetic interest in the welfare of the Eskimo people on 
the part of its officers is concerned. 

The officers of the Bear give every reasonable facility within their 
power and authority to make investigations as complete as possible, 
and the uniform courtesy of all the officers in 1905 was such as to 
deserve mention in this report. If cutters could spend more time in 
Alaskan waters it would help to conduct the public business under the 
Department of the Interior very materially, especiall}^ if the}^ could 
transport the annual supplies and do away with the trips of the private 
schooner upon which employees now rely for their supply of food 
and coal. 

MEDICAL ATTENDANCE. 

If a sum of money equal to that authorized for the erection of some 
of the new schoolhouses now in process of erection could have been 
set apart for the building of a small hospital for natives, say at Nome 
or Teller, 1 believe it would have been better for the natives. As the 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVECE;, ETC., IN ALASKA. 33 

service i** now organized the northwestern natives receive little or no 
medical attendance, and the preference should be given persons skilled 
in the medical profession for appointment at all schools and stations. 

TOTAL NUMBER OF PUPILS IN ALASKA. 

The reports of the Bureau, for unknown reasons, have failed to 
disclose the number of pupils attending school, beyond giving the 
number enrolled at each school. The teachers are required to keep 
registers in which is recorded necessary statistics. In these registers 
ma}' be found the name, supposed age, sex, and blood of each pupil, 
and a daily record is made of the attendance, in which, in all that 1 
saw, the average attendance was figured out even to the decimals. The 
average attendance is reported to the Bureau, and it should appear in 
its annual reports to indicate the degree of interest taken by the 
natives in the schools. 

The schoolrooms are kept warm, and they are the most comfortable 
places to be found in the frigid sections; hence, if so disposed, a 
teacher can very properlv enter upon his roll the name of nearly 
everv pupil of school age, as well as some of the adults, as having 
been at some time in actual attendance, while it might be for only a 
day or two at a time and at infrequent intervals. 

The number enrolled as set out in the Bureau's report has no value 
beyond disclosing the number of pupils found. 

Requiring publicity as to the average attendance at each school 
should receive no opposition and such requirement would have a tend- 
ency to encourage each teacher to bring the average to as high a 
percentage of the enrollment as possible. 

Much depends upon the personal efforts of teachers in this particu- 
lar, and percentage of attendance of enrollment should determine in a 
large measure the value of the teacher's services. 

REINDEER IN ALASKA. 

The lirst reindeer introduced into Alaska came from Siberia in 1891, 
when 16 animals were landed at the island of Unalaska, one of the 
Aleutian Archipelago, by the United States revenue cutter Beai\ said 
to have consisted of geldings and females, but there are many people 
who believe that from this herd, which has long since disappeared, 
many of the deer now in Alaska have sprung. 

The following quotation is from a statement of the Commissioner of 
Education to the honorable Secretarv of the Interior, dated February 
10, 1898: 

The 16 deer purchased in 1891 had been allowed to run wild on one of the eastern 
Aleutian Islands, and since then have in a measure stocked that island with reindeer. 

In 1892 there were imported from Siberia 171 head, landed at a 
place on Port Clarence Bay named Teller, in honor of the then Secre- 
tary of the Interior. 

The deer above mentioned were purchased with funds contributed 
by charitable persons upon solicitation in various newspapers, of Rev. 
Sheldon Jackson, who was deeply interested, and represented at that 
time the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions and the Bureau of 
Education, and drew salaries from both. The funds so contributed 
S. Doc. 483, 59-1 3 



34 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

amounted to $2,146.40. The plan of introducing domestic reindeer 
into Alaska from Siberia for the benefit of the Eskimo natives was first 
suggested b}' officers of the United States Revenue-Cutter Service, 
who had become familiar with conditions on both sides of Bering- 
Straits. The tinancial management, however, has from the first ))een 
under the immediate supervision of Doctor Jackson. Inunediately 
after the introduction of the first deer, an appeal was made to Con- 
gress to further develop and enlarge the enterprise, but the measure 
did not at first meet the approval of that body. The first appropria- 
tion by Congress for the purpose was in 18{>4, and the amount appro- 
priated, together with the dates and amounts of subsequent appropri- 
ations, are presented below: 

1894 ... $6, 000 I 1902 25, 000 

1895 7, 500 ! 1903 25, 000 



1896 7,500 

1897 12, 000 

1898 12, 000 

1899 12, 000 

1900 25, 000 

1901 25,000 



1904 25, 000 

1905 25,000 

1906 15, 000 



Total appropriated 222, 000 



With the funds mentioned there have been imported into Alaska 
from Siberia 1,280 reindeer, as follows: 

1892 171 I 1899 322 

1893 124 I 1900 29 

1894 120 t 1901 200 

30 



171 


1899 


124 


1900 


120 


1901 


123 


1902 












161 





Total 1,280 



1895 

1896 

1897 

1898 

An embargo against the exportation of reindeer from Siberia having 
been promulgated, no deer have been imported since 1902. 

Most of the deer were secured along the coast of Bering Straits and 
vicinity, and their purchase was attended with many discouraging and 
exasperating incidents. The Siberian natives have various supersti- 
tions concerning the sale of deer, besides thej" know very little of 
the value of money, consequently thev were paid for in barter, such 
as food supplies, calico, guns and ammunition, and such trinkets as 
would appeal to the eye, and this only after tedious bantering to 
induce them to part with the deer at any price. 

The above figures disclose the fact that nearly a quarter of a million 
dollars has been expended in importing 1,280 deer and in caring for 
them for the past thirteen years. The}" have increased until, as nearly 
as can be determined, there are 10,234 head in Alaska, of which the 
Government owns 2,500 unincumbered. 

Sooner or later I shall be expected to give in this report mj^ own 
views as to the wisdom of undertaking the deer industry, and perhaps 
it may as well be put down at once that the idea of introducing deer 
into northwestern Alaska was, in my opinion, a good one; and had the 
projectors of the plan contented themselves to establish the business 
more gradually, great sums of money would have been saved, much 
adverse criticism avoided, and many a stumbling-block thi'own in the 
way of the legitimate expansion of the enterprise never would have 
appeared. 

The great value of reindeer for food and clothing is so apparent, it 
seems to me, that no person in authority, after informing himself of 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 35 

their economic \'alue, would from the first iiave withlield any reason- 
able support in t'urtiierance of the undertaking. The deer being new 
in Alaska, it was of course imperative that the natives and others 
should be taught to care for them, but it is to be regretted that in the 
early days man}^ questionable and extravagant schemes were attempted, 
not only- to secure expert emplo3"ees in handling deer, but to bring 
deer from the remote parts of the world to cross with the Siberian 
strain. In the early days a trip was made to Norway b\^ the agents of 
the Bureau to buy deer in behalf of the War Department. Ultimately 
the surviving animals came into the hands of the Bureau. The Norway 
trip resulted in the Government paving the expenses of 67 Norwegians, 
together w^th their families, 113 in all, in connection with the deer 
business. Whether true or false, it is believed by many people that 
one Kjellman, who was identiHed with this project, had for his under- 
\ying motive a colonization scheme, and b}- this means the expenses of 
the emigrants were paid by the United States. This was in 1898. 
Three of these people died in this countr}- and 24: were returned to. 
Lapland, and most of those who remained either deserted or separated 
themselves from the herding business, thus giving color to the claim 
that the}" were merel}^ emigrants seeking their fortune in America. 

It is also shown that an officer was dispatched to St. Petersburg in 
January, 1901, to purchase deer, and after making the necessary 
arrangements with the Russian authorities he secured 428 "Tunguse," 
or large deer, on the Okhotsk Sea. He spent between seven and eight 
months on this expedition, and tinally chartered a ship at great expense 
and sailed from Vladivostok and landed in Alaska August 29 with 254 
deer, which had cost the Government upward of 1^20,000, or over $80 
each. The expedition was attended with many vexatious incidents. 

As bearing upon the transportation of reindeer from long distances, 
the following extract from page 78 of the Bureau's report for 1901 is 
presented, the same being taken from the letter of instructions to the 
agent above referred to, dated January 3, 1901: "The conditions are 
so favorable that the reindeer born in Alaska^ are much larger and 
heavier than the parent stock from northern Siberia;" by which it 
appears that when the expedition was proposed it was known to the 
Bureau that the Alaska animal was the best. 

Another and perhaps hardly less serious mistake was the declared 
doctrine of the Bureau of Education that the care of reindeer must 
be placed in the hands of the missions of the several denominations 
represented in Alaska. As illustrating the views of the Bureau, see 
page 11 of the Report on Introduction of Domestic Reindeer in Alaska 
for 1904: 

No matter how large the Government appropriation should be, it would be neces- 
sary to connect the reindeer instructions and the establishment of permanent herds 
in northwest Alaska with these missionary stations. 

It is understood that it was only in northwestern Alaska that the 
deer were considered necessary or desirable, as they can only be suc- 
cessfully propagated where the particular kind of moss upon which 
they subsist in winter is found, and it would certainly be out of the 
question to undertake to raise reindeer in the forest sections of the 
district. As further evidence of the accepted policv of the Bureau to 
connect the reindeer purchased by the Government with the denomi- 
national missions, see Doctor Jackson's report of 1902: 



'36 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC.^ IN ALASKA. 

A good reindeer herd at the mi.«sion station in Arctic or subarctic Alaska means: 
First, the permanence of the mission. * * * With a good-sized herd of reindeer 
there is a reserve fo(Ki siipi)ly to supplement the fish, seal, wild fowl, rabbits, caribou, 
and other products native to the country. * * * Second, it affords the mission- 
ary the opportunity of rewarding and encouraging, etc. Third, with the numerical 
increase of the herd at a mission station it becomes a source of revenue, through the 
sale of the surplus males at remunerative prices to miners and butchers. 

In a few years this revenue should be sufficient to entirely support the mission and 
thereby relieve the treasury of the Central Missionary Society; fourth, the posses- 
sion of a herd insures to the mission family a continuous supply of fresh meat, or, 
to sum up the whole matter, domestic reindeer make it possible to establish and 
sustain mission stations with success in localities that otherwise could not be reached. 

There is no denying the benefits accruing to the missionaries and 
their families from the introduction of the deer and the placing of 
them under missionary control. 

With the high esteem in which 1 hold the self-sacrificing mission- 
aries and their families who yoluntarily isolate themselves on the piti- 
less shores of northern Alaska, I find m3'self somewhat at a loss for 
suitable words with which to discuss appropriately-^ such declarations 
as are quoted aboye. 

Doctor Jackson was the recognized paid agent of the Presbyterian 
board of home missions up to about 189(3 or 1897, and he has drawn 
a salary from the United States as general agent of education since 
April il, 1885, down to the present time. (See Exhibit D.) 

Page 37 of report for 1901 states: 

We have had limited success with Government schools apart from mission stations, 
-•and it is not possible to look for success in supplanting the hunting and fishing occu- 
pations by reindeer culture, except in connection with those missions. | 

It will be found that where schools have been established apart from 
missions they are in places where yery little could be expected, as the 
most promising fields were assigned to missions, and as for supplant- 
ing the present principal occupation of Eskimo in deriving the most 
of his living from hunting and fishing, nobody believes it possible or 
desirable. Fish, blubber, oil, and wild fowl are necessary articles of 
food in the Arctic. The remarks quoted are supposed to be an argu- 
ment for placing Alaska schools practically under missionary control, 
which plan has its advantages, provided Congress agrees to a subsidy 
policy and is not asked for appropriations to meet expenses of erect- 
ing schoolhouses, pa^nng for teachers, superintendents, etc., in addition 
to furnishing a herd' of reindeer to each mission. 

Such statements as those quoted above will hardly meet general 
indorsement, and it is difiicult to understand just what such sweeping- 
statements reall}^ mean. No one know\s better than the officials who 
prepared the reports cited, that there are no missionaries at St. Law- 
rence Island, Point Barrow, and several other places where the United 
States has established herds of reindeer, and that the deer at these 
places are now cared for, and in some instances always have been, by 
persons whose salaries are paid by the Government; hence an official 
statement conve3dng the idiea that the Government has not the abilit}^ 
to establish and conduct an independent school and to manage a herd 
of reindeer in connection with the same in Alaska is not entitled to 
further comment. Statements of this nature, however, have tended to 
irritate numerous persons in Alaska in the past, some of whom believe 
that wherever the board of missions have secured a herd of reindeer 
irom the Government the mission got the best of the bargain. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 37. 

The report for ISOG «ays: "The missionaries are the wisest and most 
disinterested friends the natives have,'' and " thev can wisely direct 
transfer of ownership of the deer from the Government to such of the 
natives," etc. Close observation indicates the element of self-interest 
on the part of the missions or those actino- in their behalf and that 
the mission herd constitutes the prominent feature at the stations. 

In traversing the barren waste of the Arctic one is struck with the 
infinite wisdom that has, even in the most desolate regions, provided 
something- of value to man whenever he shall have learned how to 
make use of it. 

We find here, in this apparently good-for-nothing region, millions of 
acres bearing a peculiar kind of moss. This moss is of a yellowish- 
white color and seldom grows more than 3 inches high. So far as; 
known, it has no value excepting as food for reindeer, but this same 
moss will, when utilized under intelligent direction, support untold 
thousands of deer, which in turn will supply the best possible clothing 
for the inhabitants of the frigid zone, and contribute greatl}^ to their 
food supply, and ultimately add materially to the wealth of the coun- 
try. No one can successfully deny this, and even those who have been 
harshest in their criticisms of the deer industr}' admit the great value 
of the deer, under proper management, for food and clothing. It 
may be said the above statement really covers the entire question, and 
that whatever else may be added is purely a matter of detail, and 
whatever adverse criticism may be found herein as to the past admin- 
istration of those in charge, the fact remains that, in my opinion, the 
general plan to introduce and build up a great industry in the propa- 
gation of reindeer was a most excellent one. 

As already stated, however, there was too much haste at the com- 
mencement whereby deer were brought into the country before a well- 
defined scheme was worked out for caring for them and distributing 
them in such a way as to make them most helpful to the natives. One 
most glaring mistake made was in failing to keep the control of the herds 
entirely in the hands of intelligent paid agents of the United States, 
instead of making the Government a sort of joint partner with numer- 
ous missionary associations, where in most cases the Government pays 
for herders employed and in some few cases their subsistence and that 
of their families as well. Theoretically, I dare say, it was assumed 
that the missionary societies would disti'ibute the increase of the deer 
derived from herds loaned them by the Government among the natives. 
That they have done this to some extent is true, but various reports of 
the Bureau show very clearly that after these many years the number 
of natives having deer is not very considerable, while the herds accu- 
mulated and now claimed as the property of the missions constitute a 
verj^ large part of all the reindeer in Alaska. 

The raising of deer is now known to be a business of sufficient profit 
to induce white men to go into it, and the whole matter should have 
been so managed that this could not be brought about until such time 
as all the natives were provided for. 

It is to be regretted, too, that loans of deer have been made to pri- 
vate individuals as an inducement for them to teach the natives the 
business. It appears that they have not done much in making appren- 
tices, but are accumulating herds for themselves. 

Mr. W. T. Perkins, of Xome, told me that at the time the embargo 
against taking deer from Siberia was issued himself and associates were 



38 EDUCATIOlSrAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

considering and were about decided to go into the deer business in the 
Ku.skokwim district on the lines of a stock-raising industry. 

The reindeer, or domesticated caribou, has to be treated in many 
respects about the same as the sheep; that is, they must )je kept in 
herds and carefully watched day and night. They are timid, and when 
frightened by dogs or other animals the}" become terrified and scat- 
tered, precisely as a flock of sheep will do. They are a cud-chewing 
animal, and left to themselv^es will feed for a short time, then lie down 
for a while, and so on. It can be put down that dogs and deer are com- 
mon enemies of each other. 

In the present state of the deer industry it is misleading to claim 
much value for them to the natives as a means of transportation. 
This is the universal testimony of the best friends of the deer in 
Alaska. In the tirst place, dogs are preferred, as is proven by the 
action of Rev. S. R. Spriggs, of Point Barrow, who made three of his 
four celebrated mail trips with dog team. So far as the Eskimos are 
concerned, they have little need for either dog or deer teams, as they 
make most of their inland trips in pursuit of game, when neither dogs 
nor deer could be used, and, comparatively speaking, there are only a 
handful of white men in the Eskimo district outside of Nome. 

The reports give out the impression that deer teams are in use 
throughout the entire district of Alaska; the truth is the deer are in 
the frigid section, occupied by the Eskimos. That deer have been 
used for transportation in a small way is perfectl}^ true; but in nine 
out of ten instances it has been in an experimental way. A very fine 
argument can be made that dog teams are handicapped for use on long 
journeys by being compelled to carry their own food as a large part 
of their load, while the deer will subsist upon the abundant moss. 
This is perfectly plausible, but to claim that a deer team will make 50 
or 60 miles a day, for day after day, and sit up nights to dig its food 
from beneath the snow and ice and be alwaj^s ready for the start, is 
hardly borne out by the facts or common sense. 

In the estimates as to the value of deer for teaming, conclusions are 
based largely upon the testimony of disinterested residents of Alaska. 
Mr. Frank Klinsmith, a son-in-law of Rev. S. Hall Young, one of the 
early missionaries, told me that after about two days' travel, the deer 
would give out, and that he himself had been obliged to put a deer on 
the sled and haul it home, and others have told me that even the best 
of the trained deer are what horsemen call "quitters" after a day or 
two's service. The fallacy of some of the extravagant claims for 
them as beasts of burden has been made plain again and again, as they 
are not yet beyond the experimental stage. 

There is no uncertainty as to the looseness with which Government 
business has been handled, as to ownership, the giving away of deer, 
and the loaning of deer to private parties. The fact should be recog- 
nized that a i-eindeer represents to the (lovernment money value the 
same as any other live stock, and the principle should be established 
that Government reindeer must, under the law, be treated the same as 
any other Govei'nment property. 

Certain charitable persons, upon the request of the present general 
agent of education in Alaska, then acting, I believe, in a dual capacity, 
contributed the sum of $2,146, and running all through the reports of 
the Bui-eau this contribution has been referred to, so that the gener- 
osity displayed by the kind-hearted men and women has been acknowl- 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 39 

edged over and over again. It would seem that the incident should 
be closed. It has been intimated, however, that this contribution has 
furnished excuse for giving- away thousands of dollars worth of Gov- 
ernment property, or placing deer into outside hands and buying the 
increase. 

At any rate, the Government should be protected ag'ainst further 
claims upon its propertv arising- through an agent of the Government 
having solicited subscriptions. 

The obstacles in the way of keeping in touch with the Eskimo dis- 
trict where the deer are held are many and various, and the delay or 
miscarriage of an important ofiicial letter at a connecting point with the 
United States revenue cutter might mean to the school teacher or rein- 
deer superintendent a whole year's service entirely in the dark as to 
what was expected of him; so, too, with the official reports from the 
distant points, which sometimes miscarry and do not reach Washington 
for months; hence there is all the more need for making preparation as 
to buildings and supplies, etc., before Government employees are sent 
into the countr}". Too much money has been spent for the sake of 
"doing something." While the Eskimos are very poor indeed, they 
are probably aliout as well off now as the}" ever were. 

The frightening away of gar»e with firearms is largel}^ a mj^th, and 
the use of guns instead of bows and arrows more than compensates any 
such losses. 

We have read a good deal about the disappearance of game, but have 
never been told what game is referred to, and it can not be ascertained 
when nor where there was any considerable game for the Eskimos that 
is not now available. Those best informed state that the principal food 
of the natives has always been derived from the sea and along the shores. 
There is very little game on the treeless land, but it is understood that 
wild caril)ou and some other animals are found a long distance inland. 

The rather vague estimates that there are 20,000 Eskimos, as set 
forth in some of the Bureau's reports, must be overdrawn. 

It is Eskimos chiefly that have been provided with reindeer up to 
the present. Conclusions as to population are based upon the census 
of Eskimos made by Mr. W. T. Lopp. who is better qualitied to speak 
for that section on this subject than any other person. Beginning 
with Nome and extending north to Point Barrow, his figures are as 
follows : 
Nome 100 ' Sishret 20 



Penny River 10 

Quartz Creek 75 

Synrok 10 

Singeyok 15 

Cape Douglas 15 

Teller 25 

Teller station 20 

Point Jackson 25 

Polezruk 20 

Wales 376 

Sezvovvvunuk 10 

Penubzaok 10 

Mugisitokevik 10 

Toowoomeet 5 

Mitletokovik 10 



Ooweewuk 15 

Kegittuk (Shishmaref ) 125 

Kivudlauk (kivalik) 20 

Tootel 15 

Inniachuck ( Deering ) 20 

Kotzebue 150 

Aneyok 25 

Point Hope 250 

Point Lay 20 

Wainwright 40 

Belcher 40 

Barrow and vicinity 200 

Along the rivers 550 



Total 2, 371 

I believe it safe to state that the people enumerated by Mr. Lopp, 
as set out above, constitute more than one-fourth of the entire Eskimo 



40 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

population or natives who Avould be materiall}^ benefited ])y the deer 
industry, althouo-h the matter of exact tig'ures is not essential at this 
time. Deer can thrive only in that pai't whei'e the moss grows and 
must be herded awa}^ from the dense tini])cr districts, and the distri- 
bution to new points should only be made hereafter when well-digested 
plans have been made as to their custody and management. Believing 
that the Government has already spent too nuich upon reindeer to 
abandon the work, reasonable appropriations should be made to con- 
tinue the care of the deer under new plans to be carried out as here- 
after mentioned. 

Attention is invited to the total appropriations by Congress for the 
introduction of reindeer, ^222,500. 

Reference is made elsewhere to the Eskimo population. No accu- 
rate census was ever made, and while there are persons who have had 
better opportunities than I to judge of their number, I hardly think 
there are 10,000 Eskimos, although there are about 2,500 in the rein- 
deer district. 

In discussing the general situation with Mr. Abram Hovick, who 
was at the Teller reindeer station for live years, he stated that he was 
confident that not more than one-third of the natives will ever be fit 
to take up the reindeer industry. 

As already pointed out, the complete failure of the deer business as a 
lasting benefit to the natives will begin with deer getting into the hands 
of white men wishing- to build up the business for its profits. A few 
white men testified that they thought the deer business did not amount 
to much, and when pressed for further information it was invariably 
to the effect that the deer did not amount to much to the white man; 
that is, the white man was unable to buy them, therefore why should 
they be in Alaska? and, as might be expected, the white men of this 
type were asking the same questions concerning the Eskimos. If, as 
those who have shaped the policies in school and reindeer matters in 
Alaska are sincere in their desire to help the natives, they will inter- 
pose no objections to any rational and feasible plan to distribute the 
animals among- them as fast as they shall become qualified to care for 
them. A knowledge of deer herding can be acquired as quickl}^ as 
that of herding sheep. The actual labor, when everything goes well, 
is monotonous rather than laborious, with, of course, extraordinary 
labor when from any cause the deer are scattered, and also during the 
fawniing season, (yonstancy, therefore, is the most valuable quality 
in a deer herder. Six or eight herders can care for a thousand head 
of deer just as efi^ectually as a larg-er number of men. Of course this 
is assuming that only such attention will be given the business of 
training deer to the sled as the actual demands require, assuming also 
what is true in the main, that the demand for trained deer up to the 
present has been fictitious. 

The localities where the reindeer are held are so f requentl}'' referred 
to as stations that persons unacquainted with the country naturally 
get the impression that the word "station" refers to some particular 
spot where there is tangible equipment, etc. The truth is that the 
deer are rarely kept nearby the schools, and owing to their being often 
moved according to the crop of moss upon which the}" feed local super- 
intendents rarely know exactl}" where they are. 

The herders live in tents or temporary huts as a rule, but in time 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA. 41 

cabins should be scattered al)Ovit to protect the herders in severe 
weather. 

It is hard to get at the actual number of the deer or to make a classi- 
fied statement as to sex and age on account of the lack of suitable cor- 
rals, which are very much needed, and lumber for their construction 
should constitute the next outlay of any considerable amount in the 
field, as it will be readily seen that in a timberless country, where 
driftwood is chiefly relied upon, how difficult it is to build suitable 
barricades or corrals, without which certain features of the deer busi- 
ness can not be properly cari'ied on. 

Another drawback in accounting, where there are numerous owners, 
is the S3\stem in use for marking the deer themselves for identification. 
At present the earmark system, by cutting, is in general use, but the 
ears of the animals being small, it is necessary to lasso them to read 
the mark. Each deer owned by the Government is supposed to be 
marked with an aluminum button — something like a cuff button — worn 
in one ear. This makes a very safe marker, but more or less confusion 
nmst come when Government deer are transferred to the natives or 
others. 

One of the important questions to be answered is as to the effect of 
deer raising upon the natives as a civilizing influence, and it may be 
said at once that the effect is good as far as it goes; in fact one hardly 
can suggest anything in the way of occupation of economic value that 
would be better or more helpful in the barren North; but this, like 
everything else, can be carried too far, and the record and the expense 
account show that the deer holjby has been ridden too hard and pushed 
too rapidly. Those who have had close relations with people that are 
only partially civilized know that a knowledge of English and a smat- 
tering of books about things for which he has no practical use does 
not at once transform the individual into a white man even if he is 
clad in a white man's clothes. 

It is believed the proper course from now on is to gradually get the 
deer into the hands of the natives and, so far as possible, to allow no 
white men. under any pretext, to buy or control female deer. The 
mischief done in loaning deer to outsiders can not now be entirely 
undone, but it is entirely within the province and power of the Depart- 
ment to see to it that hereafter no such loans be made and that all 
persons making contracts in any way affecting the industry be required 
to furnish bonds for the performance of whatever the}^ may agree 
to do. 

Referring again to the close connection between the several mis- 
sionary institutions and the Government, there is evidence that these 
interests are so intermixed that it is frequently the case that persons 
who are paid by the Government for their services do not themselves 
know who owns the property under their charge. This is a serious 
hindrance in conducting public l)usiness, and it hardly need be sug- 
gested that unless there is an early division of at least the property 
interests greater confusion is likely to ensue. 

While throughout this report you will find apologetic suggestions 
properly based upon the want of frequent communication with 
employees in Alaska and the Bureau in Washington, lack of expe- 
rience on the part of all concerned, and especially on account of many 
if not most of the Government employees, having been practically 
appointed by the several missionary boards without special regard to 



42 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

business qualifications, the doctrine still holds good, which will per- 
meate this i-eport, that complete separation of property interests, and 
all others which involve the outlay of money, should be brought about 
forthwith if anything like an orderly, dignified, and business-like 
system is to be expected in managing Alaskan matters. 

The lack of knowledge referred to extends also to a want of under- 
standing of the rules concerning reindeer, which at the present time is 
the most vexatious question to be solved by the Government. 

To throw away the hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in deer 
seems wrong, and to continue present methods would be as bad or 
worse. The mission should have no more to do with the deer than 
they have with the industrial schools for the Indians in the States. 

It is a significant fact that in the advertising literature in Alaska, 
booming this place and that, the reindeer are seldom mentioned as a 
factor for travel or food. 

Capt. D. H. Jarvis, who has seen about as much of the Arctic as any 
man, in speaking of reindeer, told me that "a white man would con- 
sider deer as too slow and too aggravating for teaming should the 
white population increase, and the natives have little occasion for 
teams." 

This really tells the whole story; and when it is stated, as it should 
be, that nobody in Alaska takes the stories about reindeer travel 
seriously, the question of the present value for teams is settled, in my 
mind, as being merely nominal. 

The merits of the deer for teams have been held up for one section 
of Alaska, while the deer themselves are in another and radically dif- 
ferent section, Nothing but finding gold or other minerals or metals 
in the arctic belt is likely to attract a white man into that frozen and 
now good-for-nothing neighborhood outside of what minerals it may 
contain. 

The various tables will show, as nearly as may be done, the number 
of deer at various points. Actual counts, I regret to say, involve 
immense labor for want of suitable facilities to confine the deer. The 
marking requires lassoing, as does the positive identification of indi- 
vidual deer, and on account of their immense antlers many accidents 
happen to the animals. No perfect method of marking has yet been 
devised. Branding would be the surest method, Init this has many 
disadvantages. 

It was found impossible to visit all the so-called reindeer stations, 
and, as already noted, the deer are usually herded many miles from 
the missions, so that it requires a long time to reach them. 

As to conditions at Unalakleet, Eaton, Bethel, and Carmel, as well 
as the stations at Bettles and Copper Center, in the interior, we are 
entirelv dependent upon the reports of the Bureau. 

We iiave already mentioned the loan of 99 deer to Alfred S. Nilima, 
at Kotzebue, and *10() to Nils Klemetson, at Golovin Bar, and com- 
mented thereon; and also find that in July, 19Ul, Per M. Spein was 
loaned 100 deer at the Moravian Mission at Carmel, and that Ole O. 
Bahr had a loan of 100 at the same time; also that Nils Person Sara 
had 100 at Bethel. 

I must assume the Bureau would not have done such an impolitic 
thing as to put deer into the hands of these men unless it was believed 
the honor of the Government demanded it. I have read the contract 
made in Norway by Doctor Jackson in 1898 and find that the men were 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC.^ IN ALASKA. 43 

promised what to them doubtless was satisfactory wag-es, but a proviso 
was inserted, unfortunately, that they mioht, under certain conditions, 
expect a loan of deer for three or live years. It seems they were 
given the full limit of time in the loan made and at a time when extraor- 
dinar}^ etforts were l)eing made to buy deer, consequently the least that 
can be said is that the matter was not well managed. 

A representative of the Bureau of Education was passenger on the 
ship with me, and while our investigations were conducted entirely 
independently, I have some reasons for supposing that on account of 
questions that may have appeared somewhat pointed, that advance 
reports w^ere made to the Bureau as to the extent of my inquiries. 
This was entirely legitimate, still it is l)elieved that the report for 
1905 contains statements that otherwise would not have appeared. 
Two calls were made at Teller and St. Lawrence Island, and nothing 
was said by those in charge about returning deer at the time of our 
first visit. The truth is nobodv seemed to know much about them. 

The Bureau reports that from 1892 to 1894, 4,184 deer were sold, 
slaughtered, or died; this does not help to trace the deer, but has a 
bearing upon the natural increase during that period. Two tables 
are presented below showing, as nearh^ as ma}^ be done, the total 
number of deer in Alaska. Table 8 refers to the stations visited this 
summer, and Table 9 is made up from figures found in the Bureau's 
report of places not visited by me, and thaj are simply presented as 
found in the report. 

Table 9 is misleading at least, for the statement of D. W. Cram, 
found herein, shows that the Bettles herd has been sent to Tanana and 
turned over to the Episcopal mission. Loaned deer should not be 
carried as being on hand, as it tends to a sort of jugglery of figures, 
whereby deer may ])e counted twice. If the Bureau's figures can be 
relied on, the whole number of deer in Alaska is 10.234. As to the 
number absolutely under the ownership and control of the Government, 
Table 8, is believed to be correct as to those stations. The Bureau 
claims to have loans (at stations in its Table 10 for 1905) aggregating 
1,270, including the Bettles herd of 400, concerning which nothing- 
definite is known. To these figures should be added the 500 loaned to 
Laps, and 17 still due at Point Barrow. 

If the Bureau's loan accounts were kept separately and carried as 
bills receivable instead of stock on hand, it would help in getting a 
trial balance. As their tables are now made up they do not prove 
themselves. When deer are turned over, by loan or otherwise, a 
receipt should be taken, and all accounts based thereon. 

Table No. S.— Total number of deer at each place visited and the nnmher owned hi) the 

Government. 



station. 




Owned by 
Govern- 
ment. 



Point Barrow 

Deering 

Cape Prince of Wales . 

Teller 

Golofuin 

St. Lawrence Island . . 

Kotzebue 

Kivalina 



627 


83 


479 




1,419 


179 


919 


130 


1,164 


32 


189 


70 


732 




220 









Total. 



Loaned deer are not included in Government column. (See Exhibit T.) 



44 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 



Table No. 9. — Xnmber of deer at stations not visited, as taken from the reports of the 
Bureau of Education for 1905. 



Station. 


Total. 


Owned by 

Govern- 

ment. 




1,020 

1,008 

438 

400 

1,329 

280 


478 




214 




438 


Settles 


400 




376 




100 








Total 


4,485 


2,006 







A grand total of 10,234 deer in Alaska. Total owned b}^ the Gov- 
ernment, 2, .500. It is believed that the deer found in the Government 
column in Table 9 include several hundred that are loaned out, hence 
they are encumbered to that extent. The tigures given in some of the 
tables of the Bureau in its advance sheets of report for 1905, have 
been changed in the report proper to correspond more nearly with my 
own figures. 

Regarding the number of herders and apprentices, and the deer 
owned by them, there appears to be little opportunity for arriving at 
their number with accuracy. The various tables issued by the Bureau 
are in some instances lacking in clearness if not actually contradictory. 

This may be explained to some extent as coming from various 
causes, such as death, removal from one station to another, or the dis- 
missal or resignation of individuals, and in the matter of the deer, dis- 
crepancies are liable to occur from sales, loans, and births and deaths 
of the animals. From all the data-ol)tainable concerning this branch 
of the business, I submit Table 10 as being approximately correct. 

Table No. 10. — Employees, herders, apprentices, and deer owned by same. 



Kotzebue . 
Kivalina . 



Herders. 



Nulato 
Teller . 



Unalakleet 



Wainwright . . 
Wales 



Shismaroff. 

Eaton 

Barrow 

Bethel 



Bettles. 



Copper Center. 



Frank Nilima (Lapp) . 
Electoona (Eskimo) . . . 

Otpelle (Eskimo) 

P. N. Bals (Lapp) 

I. A. Bango (Lapp) 

Dannah 

Albikok 

Sehaglook 

Ole O. Baler (Lapp)... 

Okitkon 

Tatpan 

Mary Andrunk 

Nallogorook 

Angolook 

M. Bals. sr., Pnaeoneo. 

Octenna 

Keoyeargruk 

Sokwina 



Nils P. Sara (Lapp) . 
Per M. Spein (Lapp) 
Jansen 

Raisenen 

Karbum 

Lampita 

Wuori 

Hatta 

Redmyer 



Fam- 
ily. 



Salary. 



[ 6 

,} I 

7 

4 

7 

1 

! 1 

a With rations. 



1.500 
500 



a 600 
a 600 
n600 
a 600 
a 600 
600 
n600 
1,200 



Deer 
owned.; 



Ap- 
pren- 
tices. 



245 
148 
172 



72 

191 

75 

280 

97 

138 

358 

63 

58 

25 

98 

93 

119 



10 
283 
242 



Deer 
owned, 



Ap- 
pren- 
tices to 
appren- 
tices. 



40 



223 



275 



296 
175 
605 
546v 



64 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SEEVICE^ ETC.^, IN ALASKA. 45 

Table No. 10. — Employees, herders, apprentices, and deer oinied by same — Continued. 



Station. 


Herders. 


Fam- 
ily. 


Salary. 


Deer 
owned. 


Ap- 
pren- 
tices. 


Deer 
owned. 


Ap- 
pren- 
tices to 
appren- 
tices. 


Gambell 


Lahti (Finn) 


2 
2 


fi8600 
a 600 












Sotkfi (Finn) 


'"'•223' 

172 

318 

21 

4 


4 


35 i 












Tautook . 






12 


383 


2 


Deering 


Keok (Eskimo) 


2 


a 100 
a 100 














Stanley 

























Special agent for hiring help, J. 
H. Jasberg, of Hancock. 




500 




















Total 


42 


8,300 


3,495 


84 


3,076 


2 







nWith rations. 
Table No. 11. — Deer purchased by the Government in Alaska. 



Date of 
purchase. 



Purchased from- 



Station. 



Aug. 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Sept. 

June 

June 

Feb. 

May 

May 

May 

May 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Jan. 

June 

June 

June 

June 

June 

June 

May 

June 



24. 1899 
11, 1902 
17, 1902 

20. 1902 

27. 1903 

27. 1903 

28. 1904 

3. 1904 
25, 1904 
17, 1904 
31,1904 

24. 1904 
4,1904 

12. 1905 
26, 1905 
26,1905 
26, 1905 
26, 1905 
26, 1905 
20, 1905 

2. 1905 
26, 1905 



W. T. Lopp Teller 

J. P. West Eaton 

Mary Antisarlook 1 do 

W. Kjellman 1 Teller 

Nor. Evangelical Lutheran do 

Ablikak do 

Moravian Mission Bethel 

Keok a Wales 

Congregational ]Mission do 

Swedish Evangelical Mission Unalakleet. 

Congregation 1 1 Mission ] Wales 

do do 

do do 

Ablikak Teller 

Mary Andrewuk b Unalakleet . 

Nallagoroak b do 

Tatpan b do 

do & do 

Okitkon b do 

A. E. Karlsonb do 

Moravian Mission b Bethel 

Taktuk b Golovin . . . . 



Number 
of deer. 



Total . 



43 

6 

29 

20 

12 

21 

37 

97 

94 

16 

47 

32 

6 

25 

cl 

c2 

5 

5 

113 

22 



Price per 
head. 



S30 
25 
30 
20 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 
85 
35 
25 
25 
25 
25 
25 



Total 

cost. 



81, 290 
150 
870 
140 
500 
300 
526 
925 

2,425 

2,350 
400 

1,175 
800 
150 
625 
35 
70 
125 
125 

2,825 
550 
200 



16, 555 



a Representing independent herders at Wales, 

b Not yet paid for. 

c Sled deer (trained for sled). 

Having shown that Congress has since 1894 appropriated the immense 
sum of 1222,000 to build up this deer industry, it is indeed a pity that 
so little has been accomplished in establishing the natives in a way that 
can be considered permanent in the deer business. The annual reports 
on the subject have failed to disclose the very things that should have 
been made known to the Government; that is, year by year, there 
should have been a direct and out-and-out statement in detail of all the 
expenditures, and a full and correct account of what there was on hand 
at the close of the year. In place of that information, the reports 
have dwelt largeh' upon what was going to be done and what could be 
accomplished with more money and more reindeer. Meanwhile the 
deer were being put beyond the control of the United States Govern- 
ment, where we find most of them are to-day. 

The missionaries have their field of work and usefulness, and it is a 
large and honorable one, but nobody will dare question the lack of 
wisdom of the Government taking the mis.sionary associations as 
partners in its financial afl'airs. 



46 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

What reasonable excuse, explanation, or apoloo y, moral or financial, 
can be ottered for presenting to the American Missionary Association 
at Cape Prince of Wales IIS reindeer is beyond comprehension, when 
it is considered that the Government at its own expense has erected a 
schoolhouse and provided a school-teacher at that place, while it has 
been compelled, throuoh the management of the Bureau of Educa- 
tion, to pa}" the American Missionary Association at Cape Prince of 
Wales thousands of dollars for deer which it should have owned all 
the time. 

There should be no criticism of the Bureau for purchasing deer that 
the natives have acquired through their own thrift and industry, for I 
respectfully submit this is the very thing that should be done to 
encourage them, and what is spoken of as education for the natives 
should signify in the main teaching him how to obtain a livelihood and 
enough from books to enable him to protect himself from unscrupu- 
lous white men in commercial matters. The placing of herds into 
outside hands to be bought back is another and entireh' ditt'erent mat- 
ter, and, to say the least, should not be permitted hereafter. 

I also respectfully submit that no splitting of hairs is suggested in 
the management of the reindeer; but the Government has a right to 
know in detail how public funds are disbursed and how public prop- 
erty is managed. The undue haste spoken of appears to have brought 
about altogether too much trading or exchanging of deer, and from 
this time on it would seem the work should be simplitied, so that, as 
far as practicable, the herds be distributed locally to the natives in the 
vicinity as the}^ shall show themselves capable of caring for them. 

With the natives able to speak and write our language, with a 
knowledge of the rudiments of arithmetic, they can, when each family 
has a few deer to provide their clothing and piece out their food sup- 
ply, take care of themselves and be reasonably comfortable. It hardly 
need be stated that the}" never can derive anything of consequence 
from the soil in the way of making a living. 

While it is not believed that reindeer amount to much at this time 
for transportation, they may in time prove to be valuable for this 
purpose, but that will be long years hence. 

After having been on the ground, I beg leave to say that it is a 
pleasure, if not a duty, to state that the bringing of the reindeer 
industry up to its present status, imperfect as it is in some respects, 
has involved labor and risk of life on the part of those who have the 
work in hand that few appreciate. None but those who have seen the 
shores of the Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea can fully realize what cour- 
age and hardship has been required to accomplish what has been done. 

There were no precedents for the deer business that could be safely 
followed. Too much zeal has proved expensive, but it is to be hoped 
the lesson has now been learned. The foundation for a great industry 
for a primitive and somewhat helpless people has been laid. 

In the preparation of a report on reindeer it will be very naturally 
assumed that the essential ligures can be given positively and with 
very little research. The tirst question to answer is, what is the num- 
ber of deer in Alaska; the second, where are they located; the third, 
by whom are they owned. Strange as it may appear, these questions 
can not be answered with exact ligures, either by the local custodians 
in Alaska or by the tables found in the annual report of the Bureau, 
and it is suspected that accuracy in the deer account has never been 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 47 

looked upon as essential, and even a return of loaned deer appears to 
have been purely a matter of bookkeeping by the Bureau. ]\o good 
reason is known why this should not be correeted and the books put 
into such form that they will at all times show the precise number of 
deer, excepting only discrepancies arising from births and deaths. 
Attention is respectfully invited to the following details, b}^ stations: 

POINT BARROW. 

As has been often reported, the school at Point Barrow is the most 
northern in the world. About 200 natives live on a low sand spit and 
vicinity, and there are altogether some six or eight white men living 
here, mostly engaged in whaling. There is a good painted dwelling 
erected. 1 believe, in the name of the Presb3'terian Board of Home 
IVIissions after funds had been contributed by the United States. 

This dwelling is occupied by Rev. S. R. Spriggs and .wife. Mr. 
Spriggs is the local superintendent of reindeer, and is supposed to 
teach the school, for which he has been paid $1,500 a year. Near this 
dwelling, say something like 500 feet distant, is a combined school- 
house and dwelling, which was built during the winter of 190^1— 5. The 
limit of the cost, as authoi-ized by the honorable Secretar}^, March 31, 
1904, was $-4,000, but I tind that up to the present time the sum of 
$6,571.29 has been expended thereon. I inspected this building- 
August 1, 1905, and found it to be a one-story structure with attic, 
plainly but substantially built, and ample in size for the purposes 
intended. 

Besides Mr. and Mrs. Spriggs, I found at Point Barrow Rev. John 
H. Kilbuckand wife; I was told that Mr. Kilbuck has drawn a salary 
at the rate of §1,500 a year, and that he, and not Mr. Spriggs, has 
taught the school during the last j^ear. Mr. Kilbuck was sent north 
to open a school at Wainwright last year, but the building, like the 
one at Point Barrow, has only just been erected. 

It goes without saying that a salaried expense of $3,000, or even 
approximately that sum, at this so-called Presbyterian Mission is an 
extravagant outlay on the part of the Bureau, but it is explained that 
the material for the Wainwright schoolhouse, where Mr. Kilbuck was 
supposed to teach, did not arrive in season for the erection of the 
building last year, which is one of the man}' instances of too much 
haste in incurring expense without needful preparation. 

Mr. W. T. Lopp, who is the accredited superintendent of reindeer 
and schools for the district including the Arctic Ocean and Bering- 
Sea points north of Nome, told me that he had never been informed 
as to the salaries paid at Point Barrow or elsewhere within his l)aili- 
wick; a statement which 1 submit without further comment than to 
remark that I believe that the best interests of the service demand that 
district superintendents are entitled to know what is going on officially, 
within their own jurisdiction, particularly as to the salaries paid and 
all running expenses. 

In a statement of expenses of the Bureau of Education submitted 
to Congress in 1898, I tind an account of cash allowances to the Pres- 
bvterian board between 1890 and 1894 amounting to $9,000 ''for con- 
ducting a school at Point Barrow." I was told that it is the couuuon 
understanding that the Government contributed also a considerable 



48 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA. 

part of the hil)or and material for the dwellino- now occupied by the 
superintendent, while the board claims the building by virtue of 
having paid §i,700,ST. 

A rather rcmarkal)le entry in this connection is found on page 89 
of Senate Document No. 187, Fifty-fifth Congress, second session, to 
which 1 refer as follows: 

Protestant Episcopal Missionary Society (George Bliss, treasurer), October 22, 1891, 
for conducting a school at Point JBarrow" during the school year 1890-91, S!2,000. 

I also lind in the same document that ^1,0U0 was paid by the Pres- 
byterian board for a new school at Point Bai'row March 24, 1890, and 
that on October 17, 1891, the Presl)yterian board was paid $!2,000, 
"conducting a school at Point Barrow for school year 1890-1." 

It is useless to attempt to reconcile these last statements, and they 
are therefore left as I found them. 

After sailing southward from Point Barrow 1 learned that Mr. V. L. 
Derby was on board a whaling ship which we met, bound for Point 
Barrow as a teacher, presumably to take the place of Mr. Killjuck, 
who will go to the new school at Wainwright. If both Mr. Spriggs 
and jNIr. Derby are to be paid as school-teachers where the average 
attendance is only 30, the outlay- must be termed outrageous. 

There is a herd of 627 deer, divided as to ownership as follows: 
Natives, 544; Government, 83; these figures being based upon a count 
of October, 1904. I can state, however, from m^^ own knowledge, that 
after my arrival at Point Barrow the 83 deer now accredited to the 
Government were put in Mr. Spriggs^s original report as the property 
of the missions. The 100 loaned here were due in 1903. Seventeen 
are still due. 

One of the natives has 196 deer, and another who did not attain the 
age of 9 3'ears until November 22, 1905, owns 7, which leads to a sus- 
picion that the idea of " rewarding" referred to elsewhere, in place of 
giving out deer to those who learn the herding business, must have 
been carried into efi'ect in this instance at least. 

Of the whole number of 627 there are only 22 trained deer. Mr. 
Spriggs appears to be a very thrifty gentleman, and has a contract 
with the Post-Office Department to carry the mail two trips each win- 
ter between Barrow and Kotzebue, for which he receives $750 a trip. 
The distance is about 650 miles, and the hardships connected with it 
are very great. Here was an excellent opportunity to prove the value of 
reindeer teams and to give to the natives a chance to earn money, or its 
equivalent in food, as drivers. Indeed, the chance to accomplish all 
this was an ideal one and in the direct line of just what has been argued 
by the Bureau would be done, bitt upon investigation it is shown that 
of the four trips made during the last two years, only the first one 
was made with reindeer and the other three with a dog team. The 
Bureau permits the free use of Government deer for such service, and 
as shown above there were 22 animals trained to the work. 

The matter of which teams were preferred was of small consequence, 
however, compared with what was done for the natives who actually 
made these perilous mail trips. As it has been ascertained that Mr. 
Spriggs only paid the natives in food supplies a fractional part in value 
of what he received for the service, and his statement that he "wanted 
to make what he could out of it " probably covers the whole subject. 

« Lead pencil notation: " It may be Point Hope." 



EDUCATIONAL AXD SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 49 

As has been shown, the schooner Laura Madsen^ owned by S. Foster 
& Co., of San Francisco, transports most of the supplies to the Arctic 
region, under contract to land the same on the beach; there being no 
docks or even harbors the labor and expense for discharging- these sup- 
plies is ver}' considerable, as they must be taken over the side of the 
ship at her anchorage a mile or more out and conveyed ashore in 
small boats. This, too, affords work for the skillful native boatmen, 
which they gladly undertake for a return of food. 

In September, 1904, Capt. P. H. Cook, of this schooner, paid Rev. 
S. R. Spriggs by draft $785 for lightering goods, and this amount was 
credited to Mr. Spriggs's private account in San Francisco October 31, 
1904. 

Jn this particular case most of the goods landed belonged to the Govern- 
ment. Upon learning that the natives did the work and that they 
were not altogether satisfied with Mr. Spriggs's payment in supplies, 
his attention was drawn to the subject, and he replied, with some dis- 
pla}^ of heat, "that he paid out two-thirds of all he got." It is now 
shown that Mr. Spriggs's income last year was $3,750, out of which he 
distributed a few supplies as noted, the exact value of which is 
unknown. The affidavit of Mr. Albert Olsen, marked "Exhibit B," 
is referred to. 

The reindeer at Point Barrow are owned as follows: Government, 
83; Tokpuk, 53; Ahlook, 196; Shoudla, 77; Paneoneo, 52; Segevan, 49; 
Panyoon,48; Ingnaveen, 19; Panigeo, 14; James Brower, 7; total, 627. 

It was learned that the native deer herders are provided with rations 
b}^ the Government, w4th the families of six of the herders, and this 
without regard to whether the herders own deer or not. 

The report of the Bureau for 1905 will show that there is due the 
Government from this mission 100 deer. The treasurer of the mission- 
ary board in New York City was unable to give me au}^ information 
concerning the reindeer in Alaska. 

WAINWEIGHT. 

There is a small native village on the coast, about 100 miles south of 
Point Barrow, called Wainwright. A new schoolhouse and dwelling 
conibined, like the new one at Point Barrow, was completed here about 
August 1, 1905, by Albert Olsen, wdio wintered at Point Barrow. The 
buildings are almost precisely alike. Four thousand dollars was the 
limit of cost for each one, and $2,958.29 has been paid on the one at 
Wainwright, and it is estimated b}^ the Bureau that $1,041.71 will meet 
the unpaid bills not yet in. If this be true, the expenditure of $6,571.29 
at Point Barrow for one just like it, built by the same man in the same 
j^ear and under no more favorable conditions at Wainwright than at 
Barrow, naturally attracts attention, 

Mr. J. H. Kilbuck told me that he should open a school at Wain- 
wright September 1, but I learned from him that there are not more 
than 40 natives there, and that he knew of only 6 children likely to attend 
school; it would appear, therefore, that the Bureau does not feel com- 
pelled to count the cost very carefully when it expends $4,000 for a 
choolhouse and provides a teacher at $1,200 or $1,500 a year for 6 
Spupils. 

I inspected this schoolhouse and found no fixtures or appliances 
w ith the exception of one stove wath pipe. 
S. Doc. 483, 59-1 4 



50 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SEKVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA. 

Mr. Albert Olsen, the carpenter, who erected the new buildings at 
Point Barrow and this place, is paid $100 a month, and was sent north 
last year long- before the lumber arrived. Upon completing the two 
buildings mentioned he proceeded to Deering to build another, which he 
hoped to do b}' November 1; therefore he will, in all probability, on 
account of navigation closing, be compelled to remain another winter; 
in other words, he will be paid for about two years' labor to perform 
six or eight months' work. Mr. Olsen is a faithful worker and pro- 
vides his own subsistence during his sta}'. 

If, in place of the new schoolhouse at Wainwright, a few hundred 
spruce poles, of which there are millions in southeastern Alaska, had 
been conve3^ed to the natives to be used in the construction of their 
oomiaks, or skin boats, the real benefits accruing to the people would 
have been much greater than can be hoped for for some time to come 
from the building of this new schoolhouse. 

POINT HOPE. 

Point Hope is the site of an Episcopal mission, with a school under 
the charge of J. B. Briggs, M. D. There are about 60 pupils enrolled 
at Doctor Briggs's school, which is entirely independent of the Bureau 
of Education in every respect. 

An effort was made some 3^ears since to secure a loan of deer for 
this place, but, for reasons that need not be mentioned here, the plan 
was not consummated. 

This point of land runs out into the Arctic Ocean for some miles, 
and, scattered all along, there are in all some 300 or 400 Eskimos, 
although the population varies from time to time, as the natives find 
employment in shore whaling, there being a small settlement known 
as a whaling station, where a white man manages the business. Between 
this little whaling settlement and Doctor Briggs's school, and something 
like 3 miles from each place, the Bureau of Education has a partially 
completed schoolhouse, for which $4,000 was authorized by the Depart- 
ment March 31, 1904, and upon which the Bureau has up to the present 
time expended $4,680.74, and it will probably require several hundred 
dollars to complete and equip it. 

It appears to me that this building should not have been put up just 
yet, as there was apparently no call for it. If, however, as Doctor 
Briggs thinks there will be, a sufficient number of pupils are found, 
the outla}^ for its support will be warranted. 

Up to recent years the Bureau allowed the Episcopal board $2,000 
a year to conduct their school here, but no aid is now given it. There 
are no deer at this mission. 

KOTZEBUE. 

Arriving on the Bear at the entrance of Kotzebue Sound July 24, 
1905, the Friends' Mission, known as Kotzebue, was found to be about 
20 miles up the sound from the anchorage, and although an attempt 
was made by the officers to reach the mission with a steam launch, it 
was found impracticable to land, although the commander of the ship 
and others succeeded in reaching the mission on the return trip 
August 6. This mission is in charge of Mr. Dana Thomas and his 
wife, Otha Thomas. Mrs. Thomas is the minister and is paid $80 per 
month by the Government to teach the school. Mr. Thomas is post- 
master, United States commissioner, merchant, and superintendent. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 51 

This mission received a loan of 95 deer in September, 1901, which 
should be returned in 1906. 

From District Superintendent Lopp it was learned that the total 
number of deer at the station is 732, of which the mission owns 310, 
natives IT. and Alfred S. Nilima, a Laplander, 370. 

This Laplander received a loan of deer from the Bureau in 1901 and 
has accuuuilated the largest individual herd. 

Mr. Thomas operates a mail route in the name of this Laplander 
from Kotzebue to Shunz-nak, a distance of 150 miles, making- five 
round trips, for which he receives $150 a trip. Thomas hires the 
natives to carry this mail for $30 for each of the first two trips and 
$100 for each of the last three, b}^ which it is observed that Mr. Thomas 
is also a very thrifty man. 

The mail is carried by dog teams and not by reindeer. 

The report of 1904 mentions Electoona and Otpella as natives of the 
Kotzebue district, but they and their families seem to constitute the 
present population at Kivalina, where an expensive schoolhouse is 
being erected, as mentioned elsewhere. 

The expenditure of iBl,000 for a schoolhouse was authorized April 
27, 1901, and under this authorit}^ the sum of $5,119.93 has already 
been paid out on this account. 

At one time considerable prospecting for gold was done in this 
neighborhood, but up to the present but few white men have found it 
desirable to settle in the district, but the Alaska saying that "the 
g'old of Alaska is where you find it," makes it unsafe to predict that 
gold will not 3"et be found here in paying quantities. With miners in 
the vicinity the demand for deer meat will, of course, increase. 

DEERING. 

The small village of Deering, on the opposite side of the sound 
from the Kotzebue Mission, is made up of both whites and natives, 
the former having come in prospecting for gold with varjdng success. 
The Friends have a mission here with Mrs. W. T. Gooden as minister. 

Lumber for a new schoolhouse was due to arrive, which appears 
in one of the lists of the Bureau in such a way as to be counted an asset, 
although I find that its construction was not authorized until after I 
left Washington on this investigation, the limit of cost being $5,000, 
and $2,181.98 has already been paid, probabl}- for lumber. Even the 
site for the building was not agreed upon until the day that I visited 
Deering. June 12, 1905, is the exact date when the new schoolhouse 
was authorized, which was nine days after 1 had left for Alaska. Miss 
Bertha Cox now draws a salar}^ of $80 per month as a teacher, the 
school being carried on in a dingy hut entirely unfit for the work. 

This mission received a loan of 100 deer in January, 1905. The herd 
"was visited at a point some 8 or 10 miles from the village, and the whole 
number was found to be 179, and that Keok, the head hearder, owns 
318; Karmun, an assistant, 21; Stanley, another assistant, 1, and the 
mission 136, which shows that 36 fawns have been born in the mission 
herd this year, which is, by the way, pretty nearly the average increase 
from fawns in the herd. 

The mission has agreed to keep four apprentices constantl}' engaged 
in herding deer, which they are to feed and clothe, and it is further 
agreed that they shall give to each apprentice 25 head of deer at the 
€ud of five years' service. 



52 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA, 

Keok and Karnuin each draw $100 from the (xovernment, together 
with rations for themselves and tiie family of one who is married; the 
cost of the rations to the (irovernment is about $30 a month. 

This raises the question that has not yet been settled with uniformity, 
and that is, as to when an independent deer herder ceases to be a charge 
upon the Government. Take Keok's case, who has 318 deer, worth 
not less than $2.5 each, and to show something of his profits, he sold in 
Februar}", 1905, deer meat amounting to $788.87; still he re(;eives $100 
per annum salary besides his board, apparently because he has been 
set up in the deer business, and those who have no deer shift for them- 
selves, which suggests the "rewarding"" system in treating his case. 

SHISMAREF. 

Our ship anchored ott' Shismaref Inlet, some 60 miles from Cape 
Prince of Wales, July 23, 1905. No landing was made and there was 
little occasion for going ashore, there being nothing to be seen except 
a few native huts and a pile of lumber for the new schoolhouse author- 
ized April 18, 1905, at a limited cost of $5,000, upon which $3,599.73 
has been expended, although nothing but the delivery of the lumber 
has been done. The Bureau's reports for 190tl: indicate that this build- 
ing has been constructed, doubtless arising from the lumber having been 
ordered and a carpenter sent north. As the matter now stands Dis- 
trict Superintendent W. T. Lopp, who is now in Seattle, has some 
indefinite instructions to look after the building. Shismaref is regarded 
as within the limits of the Cape Prince of Wales Congregationalist 
mission. (See Exhibit S.) 

KIVALINA, OR CORWIN LAGOON. 

The Department authorized, April 18, 1905, the expenditure of 
$5,000 to establish a schoolhouse and dwelling at Kivalina, sometimes 
referred to as Corwins Lagoon. After a personal inspection nothing 
was seen nor heard to warrant the establishment of a school at this 
place. There is no village, and the only natives found were Electoona, 
who has 172 deer, and Otpella with 48 deer, a total of 220, the former 
living in tents with their families on the beach. 

These natives and the deer in their hands have often been referred 
to in the reports of the Bureau, but it is understood that they formerly 
lived within the limits of the Friends' Mission at Kotzebue. 

The sum of $2,544.48 is already charged against the authorized 
expenditure here, presumabl}^ for materials for the building, which 
were expected on one of Foster & Co.'s schooners sometime in August 
last. 

Mrs. Walton, who has been waiting at Kotzebue for the arrival of 
the lumber, has been engaged bj^ the Bureau at $80 a month as a 
teacher, to begin, of course, when the building is erected, although 
the statement of the Bureau indicates that her salar}^ is now going on. 
I received the information that her husband, who has also been wait- 
ing, is to assist in the erection of the building, but upon what terms I 
was unable to ascertain, and I was informed by a representative of 
the Bureau that it was not known how much Mr. Walton was to be 
paid. 

Carr3dng out the declared policy of the Bureau of arbitrarily estab- 
lishing deer stations so as to make a complete chain on the Arctic 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 53 

coast, must be the only excuse for putting in tliis school. The Waltons 
are understood to be from the Society of Friends, and this maj^ be a 
case where that societ}^ may claim the property by virtue of Mr. 
Walton's proposed labor above mentioned. 

It is possible that the establishment of the school may result in a 
few Eskimo families building- huts in the vicinit}', but it is hardly 
probable, for a long time at least. 

CAPE PRINCE OF WALES. 

Cape Prince of Wales makes out into Bering Straits and is the most 
westerly point on our continent, therefore the nearest to Asia, it being 
only about 40 miles from the Siberian shore. Although the Bear con- 
veyed me to this place Jul}^ 21 and again August 9, it was found 
impracticable to land, but as the ship skirted the land very closely we 
were enabled to see the native village and the good schoolhouse owned 
bv the Government, which is commodious and well constructed. 

Mr. W. T. Lopp, now a district superintendent under the Bureau, 
was a passenger on the ship for several days, and through him 1 was 
enabled to obtain the information that would have been sought on 
shore, and very much more in detail than 1 could have hoped to secure 
had 1 made the landing. For man 3^ years Mr. Lopp was the agent for 
the American Missionary Association at this place, and as such he met 
with marked financial success, serving, of course, those wdio paid him 
for his services. 

There are 376 natives, and a Government school of about 80 pupils 
is maintained, and it looks as though the missionar}^ af^sociation was 
doing quite well in the deer business. The Government employs Mr. 
A. N. Evans as teacher, and a native, named lllayok. at §1,200 and $360 
per year, respectively, but 1 understand that the Bureau has recently 
notified Mr. Evans that hereafter his salar}^ will be only §00 per month 
for the school year of nine months — a reduction of $390 a year. 

The conditions as to reindeer are widelj' different here from those at 
any other place, which will be referred to later, but in other respects 
they are not materially different, excepting that this is by far the larg- 
est native village on this coast; hence it is hard to understand just 
whv Mr. Evans, with his schoolof SO and only a native boy, assistant, as 
would not be entitled, approximately at least, to as much compensation 
as the Rev. Mr. Spriggs, with an average attendance of only 30 pupils 
at Point Barrow, which he himself admits he did not teach at all, but 
which was taught by Rev. J. H. Kilbuck, who was paid a salaiy for so 
doing. 

It has been the custom for the American Missionary Association to 
keep a regularly appointed missionar}" at this station, although until 
quite recentlv the position has been vacant for several motiths. 

As to the reindeer situation, there is a peculiar state of things, the 
mission having control of one of the largest, if not the largest herd in 
Alaska, divided into two groups of 1,419 in all. 

Page 19 of the report of 1902 states that the original deer at this 
place were "loaned," but page 13 states that the mission "long since 
returned the deer" and that "987 remained to the mission." 

We are unable to tell when the 118 were returned or what became 
of them; but in the report of 1895, page 91, is found a letter from Mr. 
W. T. Lopp, then in charge, to the general agent of education for 



54 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

Alaska, containing these words: "Letter of July 27, 1894, gave to the 
mission a herd of domestic reindeer," and the report for the year 1904, 
page 12, states that the deer were a "gift," notwithstanding that all 
along through prior reports of the Bureau the deer were reported as 
having been loaned. 

1 waited upon the American Missionary Association in New York, 
with a view to obtaining precise information as to ownership, and 
what, if anything, was promised in return therefor, but was unable 
to obtain a definite statement beyond the fact that it was understood 
that Doctor Jackson gave them the deer. Mr. Lopp said, however, 
that there was never any uncertainty about the question, and that the 
deer were actuall}' given to the mission, and that he never knew why 
they were carried on the books as a loan. Just what was intended at 
the commencement will never be known, but one thing is certain, at 
present prices the 1,500 deer, which Mr. Lopp says they once had 
under the management of the missions, would now be worth $35,000 
or $40,000, if they could be marketed at current prices. 

The school employees are paid by the United States, and if the mis- 
sion has entered into any contract to do any specific thing that the 
Government would otherwise be expected to pa}' for, it is impossible 
to state it from any data at hand. The mission and the natives have 
been selling deer to the Government for some time, the last being at 
$25 each. The present ownership, as reported, is as follows: Missions 
394, natives b'46, United States 179, total 1,419, of which 6 only are 
trained to the sled. 1 am informed that the Government has in a sin- 
gle year bought deer at Prince of Wales amounting to nearly $6,000. 
Mr. James F. Cross has been appointed by the board as their mission- 
ary and agent, and assumed his duties after my visit. 

Probably there is no place in the Arctic where the natives have made 
greater progress toward civilization than here, although the cost 
already includes the life of Kev. Mr. Thornton, who was murdered by 
three native boys a few 3^ears ago. 

The corresponding secretary of the association has informed me 
that if there was any contract between them and the Bureau, he had 
never seen it. The mixing up of interests to the extent that we find 
here must be regarded as unwise in the long run, as it tends to con- 
flict of authority and to stir up jealousies and and antagonisms that 
were better avoided. A copy of the agreement between the Ameri- 
can Missionary Association and the Prince of Wales herders follows: 

Agreement beliveen the American Missionary Association and the Cape Prince of Wales 

reindeer herders. 

Know all men by these presents, that this agreement entered into between the 
American Missionary Association, party of the tirst part, and the Cape Prince of 
"Wales herders, party of the second part. 

Witnesseth: That the American Missionary Association, through its missionary, 
W. T. Lopp, for the purpose of benefiting, elevating, and assisting to self support, 
the Eskimos in the region of Cape Prince of Wales, have given deer to said Eskimos, 
subject to the following agreements and limitations: 

First. During the period of 20 years from the date of signature of this agreement, 
said party of the second part (his heirs, assigns, or executors) , agree not to sell, 
exchange, give, kill, or in any way dispose of any female deer except to the Govern- 
ment or mission or to an Eskimo for the purpose of enabling him to engage in breed- 
ing and raising of reindeer. Said transfer to an Eskimo requires the written approval 
in duplicate of the missionary in charge and the party receiving said female deer, 
must bind himself to become subject to the same conditions and limitations as the 
party of the second part. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 55 

Second. Said party of the second part can kill and dispose of male deer for sup- 
port of himself and familj^ and agrees to consult and ask the advice of the missionary 
in charge, when possible or convenient, before killing and disposing of said male 
deer. 

In selection of herders the party of the second part agrees to consult with and ask 
the advice of the missionary in charge. 

Third. That party of the second part further agrees that in case of his death before 
the expiration of said twenty years, his deer shall be turned over to the American 
Missionary Association, which organization, through its local missionary, H. W. 
Hubbard, its treasurer, and W. T. Lopp, its missionary, shall determine the best 
manner of distributing the deer among the relatives of said deceased of the second 
part, unless said party of the second part shall have made a will before his death, 
witnessed by the missionary in charge and two Eskimos (herders). In such case 
the distribution of said deer shall be in accordance with said will. 

Fifth. During the said 20 years the parties of the second part agree to counsel 
with the missionary in charge in regard to the general management of the herd. In 
case of disagreement between the herder and the missionary in charge, the question 
may be submitted to the U. S. Supt. of reindeer in Alaska for arbitration. If not 
satisfied with his decision, an appeal may be made to the A. M. Association's head- 
quarters in New York. 

Sixth. The party of the second part further agrees to furnish information in regard 
to his deer to the local missionary; also allow at any time the inspection of the herd 
by the U. S. Supt. and local missionary, furnishing transportation to and from the 
herd when requested by said officials. 

Seventh. Said party of the first part agrees to assist said herders of the 2nd part 
in every way in its power to get annual supplies shipped from San Francisco or Seat- 
tle to said herders at flie lowest prices possible. Said party of the first part further 
agrees to make no profit on supplies furnished for said herders or on the sale of deer 
meat or sled deer belonging to said herders. 

Eighth. If any of the agreements above written are violated by said party of the 
2nd part (his heirs, assigns, or executors) the said party of the second part shall 
subject himself to a fine. Said fine shall consist in confiscation of deer belonging to 
said party of the second part, the number to be determined by the local missionary, 
H. W. Hubbard, treasurer of the A. M. A., and W. T. Lopp, missionary. 

Ninth. After the expiration of 20 years from the date of each signature to these 
articles and agreement said party of the second part shall be free from all the conditions 
and limitation of the within agreement. 

Signed and witnessed in duplicate. 

First party : 

\V. T. Lopp, 
For the A merican Missionary Association July 9, 1902. 

Second parties: 

George Ootena. 

Fe.\nk Ivatunguk. 

John Sinnok. 

Peter Ibiano. 

James Keok. 

Stanley Kiyeazruk. 

Thomas Sokweena Eningwok. 

TELLER. 

Teller was the orio-inal reindeer station, unless we could include the 16 
landed on one of the Aleutian Islands, which have already been referred 
to, and it was from the Teller station that most of the herds have been 
started out. (See Exhibit Q.) 

Probably no good purpose will be served by undertaking to fully 
anal\'ze and state herein the various transactions in deer at Teller. 
The animals have been landed here from various places, and man}'^ 
fawns have been born and many have died, and besides there have 
been all sorts of exchanges, purchases, sales, and gifts, and to such an 
extent that it is not possible, in the short time that a revenue cutter 
can wait, to sift the whole matter. 

The Lutheran Synod has an orphanage here, carried on in a building 



56 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

owned by the (loveniiiieiit, where the inmates have a t^ehool \Yith an 
average attendance of IT. 

Rev. T. L. Brevig is superintendent and received $000 a year from 
the Government, and 1. A. Bango, a Laphmder, is paid $500 a year as 
an expert deer herder, and he is supposed to ])e fed and clothed by the 
mission. The Lutheran synod contributes a lumi) sum of $1,000 annii- 
all}^ for the support of the children. 

Mr. Brevig iias been absent from Alaska for several months, but 
returned August 1, 1005. During his absence Ludwig Larsen, the post- 
master, had charge of affairs and received $80 a month from the Goy- 
ernment and $400 a year from the synod. 

The inmates of this orphanage or home are mostly the children of 
parents who died of an epidemic two or three years ago, and it should 
be a source of satisfaction to ever^'bod}^ that they are here well cared 
for. 

In attempting to tind out the true status of the deer herd here, it 
was soon discoyered that most of the figures w^ere based upon esti- 
mates, although Mr. Larsen submitted a report to the Bureau in my 
presence, giving exact figures as of June 30, 1905, although he 
appeared to know nothing of a loan of deer. 

Mr. Brevig told me the number of deer is as follows: Mission, 404; 
Government, 130; Dun nak, Se keog look, 113; Se raw look, 11; Koy 
look, 10; Ab likak, 254; with 22 estimated as being at large; total, 
1,033, but Mr. Brevig afterwards concluded that the total number of 
deer, including new'-bom fa"v\ns, was 141,whi(h fguics rigue ^ith 
those of Larsen, the postmaster. 

The truth is that the only recent count was made by Mr. W. T. 
Lopp in December, 1904, when he found 919, but he informed me that 
by order of the Bureau a part of them had been removed to Unalakleet. 

The herd was ^'isited, ])ut of course it was impossible to count them 
or to tell to whom the}^ belonged. Superintendent Lopp says that Mr. 
Brevig has given out only 25 deer to the natives in the last live years. 
This station is perhaps a fair illustration of how the policies of loaning 
and reloaning and swapping deer works out. 

The al)ove list shows that one native boy 15 j^ears old has 254 head, 
one has 113, and three others have a few. and the l)alanceof the natives 
have none. Notwithstanding Teller is the oldest station, there is only 
one native who is rated as an independent herder or owner of unin- 
cumbered deer; the others are still apprentices. 

On September 1, 1905, this mission was supposed to turn back to 
the Government 100 deer in accordance with the terms of a lease. 

Since the Gov^ernment put up the buildings in which the Lutheran 
Orphanage is now carried on the village of Teller has sprung up some 5 
miles distant on the opposite side of the bay. Here the Bureau main- 
tained a mixed school up to May 31, 1905, with 24 pupils, l^ut it lapsed 
under the provisions of the so-called Nelson law. (Public — No. 26, 
sec. 7, 1905.) This school was conducted in a private building which 
contained 17 good school desks, which were paid for by the Bureau. 

Referring again to the reindeer, Superintendent Brevig stated that 
in 1903 they claimed to have 48 trained deer, but he was unable to 
state the number at present, so this information was sought from Mr. 
Larsen, who was in charge during Mr. Brevig's absence, but he was 
unable to inform me. 

Remarkable feats by reindeer teams have been reported at this sta- 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 57 

tion, but upon inquirv the only work performed last winter was to 
carj-y the supplies out to the herders and to make two trips to Ear 
Mountain to the camp of some mining- prospectors, the latter work 
being done by mission deer at a charge of $1 a day for each deer; hence 
no benetit accrued to the natives, unless the privilege of driving a deer 
team 90 miles and back be considered such. 

There seemed to be a lack of knowledge everywhere as to the num- 
ber of deer that an apprentice would have at the end of his tive 3'ears^ 
service; also whether deer turned over to apprentices would come from 
the mission herd or the Government herd. Then again the matter 
of who is to furnish the herders with rations does not appear to be 
settled, and this adds more to the tangle. 

Such simple questions as those just mentioned ought to have been 
settled once for all at the very beginning. 

Teller is situated on the only harbor in these northern waters; hence 
ships can safel}" remain at anchor, and this being the parent station it 
is only fair to expect that it should have been so conducted that the 
management should be safely taken as a model in the development of 
the deer industry. (See Exhibit E, Superintendent Lopp's letter, 
sent after m^^ visit.) 

GOLOVIN BAY. 

At Golovin Bay there is a well-established and well-kept mission, 
planted b}" the Swedish Lutheran Church, which is nomiiiall}^ under 
the superintendence of Mr. O. P. Anderson, although he is now absent 
for the coming year, and his place supplied by Mr. J. A. Gustafson. 
The Government employs here Miss Anna Hagburg as school teacher 
at $60 a month, with an enrollment of 65 pupils and an average 
attendance of something over half that number. 

Thirty children were kept at this mission all of last winter at its 
expense, and there can be no doubt about the helpfulness of this mis- 
sion to the native children. The acting superintendent speaks Eng-lish 
very imperfectly, and in an effort to obtain from him the desired data 
he seemed to be wholly dependent upon the memorandums of his 
predecessor for his figures. 

It was learned, however, that the total number of deer is 1,164; also 
that the mission received a loan of .50 deer in January, 1896, but there 
are onh' 32 credited to the Government. The followijig is the state- 
ment received as to ownership: Mission, 462; Government, 32; Nels 
Klemetsen (Laplander), 287; 3 self-supporting herders, 301; appren- 
tices of native herders, 28; 3 mission apprentices, 35; 1 appi'entice to 
Klemetsen, 4; absentee native, 6; Mrs. Dexter, wife of a white man, 9; 
total, 1,164. Of this number 52 are said to be trained. As usual, the 
herd was several miles from the mission, but had circumstances afforded 
an opportunity of actually seeing the animals no additional data could 
have been obtained, as the information concerning ownership is in the 
hands of the superintendent. It should ])e stated, however, that there 
are reasons for believing that there are less than 52 trained deer in 
the herd. 

Golof nin is only about 50 miles from Nome, which, of course, furnishes 
a good market for venison, and the real value of the Golofnin herd is 
more than it would be at a more distant point. One of the native 
herdei's sold 18 deer last winter at $40 each, and Nels Klemetsen, the 
Laplander, sold 6 at $45 each. As shown, Nels Klemetsen is the 
owner of 287 head, worth at the lowest price mentioned $11,480. 



58 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

It is understood that the Bureau made a loan of deer to Klemetsen 
several 3'ears ago, and it will Vje also noticed that if the Bureau's esti- 
mates that a herd will doul)le ever}- three years is correct, Klemetsen 
will in a few vears have a fortune in his herd. 

Probably some restrictions or agreements were made with Klem- 
etsen, but of this we are not informed; the record is that he has only 
one apprentice, who has 4 deer of his own, and it is tolerably safe to 
assume that Klemetsen is giving his attention to accumulating a herd 
that will make him independent. 

Nothing will so eti'ectually counteract the efforts of the friends of 
the natives to establish them in the profitable business of raising deer 
as to loan or sell deer to white men without a carefully drawn contract, 
supported by a good and sufficient bond. 

Klemetsen's case is a good illustration of what we ma}^ reasonably 
expect. He is already well established in his business, and at the 
Government's expense; he has free pasturage and is likelv to prosper. 

But for the embargo issued by the Russian authorities white men 
would now be in the deer business on a large scale. It was bad 
enough to import the 67 men with their families, and pay all their 
expenses, but it was worse to set them up in the deer business. 

BETTLES. 

A school was established in Bettles in 1904, in a school building 20 
by 30 feet, upon which the Government has expended $3,114.82, and 
an attempt was made to establish a reindeer herd. Mr. D. W. Cram 
and wife, of Staples, Minn., were placed in charge July 31, 1904, at 
$1,000 each per year, with allowance for their traveling expenses from 
St. Louis, Mo., to their post of duty in Alaska. The employment of 
both Mr. Cram and his wife seems to have been somewhat of an inno- 
vation upon the established polic}^ of the Bureau, or at least so far as 
the amount of the salary is concerned. The station is far away in the 
interior and teachers fitted for the service can hardh^ be expected to 
serve at a price that will be satisfactory in the States; the exhibit of 
the Bureau, placed in my hands, did not, however, disclose the fact 
that Mrs. Cram, as well as her husband, was to receive $1,000 a year 
for her services. The school has been discontinued b}^ order of the 
Bureau and Mr. and Mrs. Cram relieved. 

In an interview with Mr. Cram it was learned that while he was at 
Bettles he was in nominal charge of the reindeer, which were in two 
herds. He states that he inspected the deer in February, 190.5, and 
"estimates''' their number to be from 280 to 300, although he admits 
that the}^ were not counted, and says "there ought to be 140 fawns." 

This is the best information that can ))e given as to the number of 
deer at that point, which are put down in the Bureau's report as 400. 

Bettles having been abandoned, Peter Bals, a Laplander, has been 
ordered b}'^ the Bureau to drive the deer to Tanana, where JNIr. Cram 
informs me lumber is on the ground for a new school building, fur- 
nished by the Government, but on examination of the authorized 
expenditures by the Department, no mention appears for a building at 
Tanana. 

Mr. Cram says the deer are to be turned over to Mr. J. L. Prevost, 
a missionar}' under Bishop Rowe, of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Cram 
did not appear to be entirely satisfied with a settlement that he had 
just made with the Bureau, hence some slight allowances are made for 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 59 

some of bis statements, owing to his then frame of mind. It seems 
that Mr. Prevost claims the Bureau of Education owes him 350 deer, 
to replace a like number which had run awa}', and that when Cram was 
directed to turn his herd over to Prevost he refused to accept them as 
a new loan, whereupon some moditications of the Bureau's original 
plans were made, and it was agreed that the expenses of the herders 
were to be paid in driving the deer to Mr. Prevost's station; and it was 
further agreed that the Government should also pay the expenses of 
an extra man to assist in the work, to be furnished by Mr. Prevost. 

Mr. Cram understands that the Tanana station is to receive gratis a 
part of the herd to mollify Mr. Prevost's feelings, he claiming that he 
has been wronged by the Government because the deer ran away. 

Mr. Cranrs information was somewhat indefinite, but it seems to be 
sufficient to show something of th-e snarls that will arise from having 
too many persons interested in a herd of deer. 

To the credit of reindeer it should be mentioned that Mr. Cram states 
that he could have sold a few trained deer at $100 each to prospectors 
in the neighborhood. It remains to be seen whether the deer will be 
a success in the interior of Alaska. 

It does not appear why the Bettles School was discontinued unless 
it was to unload a pretty heavy salaried expense for a school that com- 
menced with eight pupils and closed with 15. Mr. Cram was placed 
in a very unpromising field. 

GAMBELL, ST. LAWRENCE ISLAND. 

St. Lawrence Island, which is about 100 miles long and from 10 to 
50 miles wide, is a reindeer reservation b}^ Executive order dated 
June 7, 1908. 

It is estimated that there are about 250 natives on the island, which 
is barren and treeless, and these people must, of necessity, live from the 
products of the sea. 

With the exception of an occasional whaler stopping to trade for 
whalebone, walrus ivory, and fox skins, the only visitors come on the 
annual visit of the United States revenue cutter, which this year 
arrived first July 9, and again August 25. 

The report of the Bureau for 1901 states that this is a Presbyterian 
mission, and the Presbyterian board claims to own buildings there, 
but the officers of the ship told me that everything belonged to the 
United States, and 1 find that the Government paid |1,000 for the 
schoolhouse October 31, 1891, and the tradition is that a considerable 
part of the laboi- in constructing the combined schoolhouse and dwell- 
ing was paid for l)y the United States, if not entirely so. 

Edgar O. Campbell, M. D., is the superintendent and teacher here, 
for which service he is paid $1,500 a year. 

Besides Mr. Campbell, the Government also pays Albert Lahti and 
Sigfried Sotka, Finlanders, $600 per year each, together with rations 
and clothing for themselves and their families. Inasmuch as all other 
persons on the island are Eskimos, it must be seen that this is a mis- 
sion in name only. 

The school had an average attendance of 65 during the last school 
3"ear, some of whom were probably adults. 

The island is ISO miles from the mainland of Alaska, and the cold is 
intense in winter. The only fuel is such driftwood as may come ashore 
from hundreds of miles away, and it is upon this driftwood that the 
natives must rely for such wood as goes into their huts. Upon arriv- 



60 EDUCA.TIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

ing the first time upon the i.sland Doctor Campbell could give me but 
very little information concerning the deer, he being of the opinion 
that the Frc.s])yterian mission owned them all excepting 39 which had 
been earned by three native herders. 

On the second visit he informed me that the total number of deer 
was 189, and that the mission had received a loan of 70 deer in 1900, 
which under the terms Avere returnable this year, which would leave 
the account as follows: Mission, 84; Government, TO, returned this 
year: Sapulla, 20; Penin, 12; Pungowiyi, 3; total, 189. 

Of this number 10 are reported as sled deer, although there has been 
very little demand for their use as such, and upon inquiry it was ascer- 
tained that dogs were used by Doctor Campbell and the natives for 
hauling fresh water for domestic purposes. 

So far as the report of Doctor Campbell is concerned the 70 deer 
w^ere placed to the credit of the Government under pressure after my 
arrival, and it must be confessed that no reason has yet been discovered 
or advanced by any one for loaning 70 deer at this place to a mission, 
which so far as has yet been shown does not exist. 

But this does not appear to be the worst feature, for after all these 
years there are only four native herders, and only three of these have 
acquired deer. 

Doctor Campl)ell seemed to be very uncertain as to the rules govern- 
ing the issuing of deer to natives, showing the lack of uniformit}^ in the 
regulations which has already been touched upon at other points. 

Touching the ownership of the buildings here, which are, besides the 
schoolhouse, some inexpensive outbuildings, the Presbyterian board 
claims to have paid ^2,000 thereon in 1903. 

It has also been discovered that on October 31, 1891, the Bureau paid 
the treasurer of the foreign missionary board. Reformed Episcopal 
Church, $1,000 " to aid in building a schoolhouse on St. Lawrence Island, 
Bering Sea." In this connection attention is invited to page 29 of " Facts 
about' Alaska," by Sheldon Jackson, D. D., LL. D., which reads, "In 
1891 1 erected a good schoolhouse and teachers' residence at the village, 
the funds for which were provided by ]Mrs. William Thaw and Mrs. 
Elliot F. Shepard," and "in July, 1894, the Government school wag 
opened there." The Presbyterian board claims the land where the 
buildings are located and has asked to have it patented to thcm.^ 

Admitting that the deer business is mixed up on this worthless island, 
the ownership of the schoolhouse and teachers' tenement combined 
seems to be in even worse shape. The Iniildings are probably not 
worth over $3,000. 

Placing deer here was a most excellent arrangement, and their prop- 
agation should ])e encouraged in every reasonable way, but there seems 
to be no good reason for raising reindeer for anybody excepting the 
natives, and as long as the island is a reservation for this purpose and 
the Government pays all the bills, it would appear that it should have 
an undisputed right to manage the entire business, and unless it can do 
so it would seem to be the only dignified plan to retire from the field. 

The Bureau's report for 1902 gives the number of deer as 1.50, a gain 
of only 39 in three years. 

The'firm of S. Foster & Co., of San Francisco, the concern that has 
furnished most of the supplies for the stations of Bering Sea and 
Arctic Ocean, opened a small store on the island this summer, having 
permission to do so from the Department. The objects sought are of 
a twofold nature: First, of course, to give the natives an opportunity 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 61 

to exchange their whalebone, ivory, and fox skins for food, upon a 
reasonal)le tiasis; the other being to give Foster & Co. control of the 
output of the island, in place of the same being bartered away to 
unscrupulous whalers, who frequently distribute whiskj^ of the vilest 
kind in exchange for the native commodities, which are often secured 
by the whalers for trifling returns. If the license granted Foster & 
Co. is hedged about with suitable restrictions, it will doubtless result 
favorably for the natives. 

Probabl}' St. Lawrence Island is the most lonesome place where a 
station has been established, and for the good of all concerned a change 
of superintendents once in three 3^ears is advised. 

Kemaining on this island for a full year at a time, without a word 
from the outside world, tends to incapacitate people for certain kinds 
of work, and it is believed that a change here would be beneticial all 
around. Some annoyance has been caused the natives from visiting 
Siberian natives, it being only about 40 miles from the island to the 
Siberian coast. 

As having a further bearing upon the ownership of the buildings 
here, attention is invited to Fxhibit K, which shows in detail that the 
Government paid for the transportation of the schoolhouse in 1891, 
in connection with other items of expense. 

The following is a copy of a contract with one of the herders men- 
tioned above. 

Agreement bettveen United States Bureau of Education and Sigfrid Sotla. 

Know all men by this agreement entered into this 25th day of April, A. D. 1904, 

between W. T. Harris for and in behalf of the Bureau of Education, party of the 

first part, and Sigfrid Sotka, party of the second part; witnesseth: 

First. That the i>arty of the second part hereby agrees for one year from May 1, 
1904, to herd, break, milk, and care for reindeer, make and care for sleds, harness, 
and skees, tan reindeer skins, raise and train for herding all the herder dogs that 
are placed under his care or that shall be born during the year; said dogs to be the 
property of the Government, and a penalty of $10 shall be collected from his salary 
for every herder pup or dog killed or allowed to be killed through the connivance 
directly or indirectly of the party of the second part; make fish nets, catch, dry, 
and smoke fish, build log huts or sod houses, make journeys when required by the 
superintendent of the Gambell (St. Lawrence Island) station, teach Eskimo men 
to do all these things, give willing obedience to the rules and regulations made from 
time to time by the Bureau of Education, and do any and all such services as may 
be required by the superintendent at Gambell. 

Second. In return for such services the party of the first part will cause to be j^aid 
annually to the party of the second part $600. 

And the party of the first part will supply the party of the second part and his 
family, if any, with shelter, or tent, together with the following monthly rations: 

Flour, 35 pounds; oatmeal, 31 pounds; peas, li pounds; green coffee, 5 pounds; 
cube sugar, 4 pounds; butter, 3 pounds; bacon, 12 pounds; roast beef, 6 pounds; 
baking powder, 1 pound; matches, 1 package; molasses, 1 quart, and condensed 
milk, 4 cans. Potatoes, when the station has any. 

Third. If any party of the second part shall at any time during the contmuance of 
this agreement refuse to carry out the letter and spirit of the same, he hereby ceases 
any longer to be in the employ of the above, and the Bureau of Education is released 
from any further payment or support to the party of the second part. 

Fourth. It is further agreed tliat the party of the first part will pay traveling 
expenses to Alaska for the party of the second part and his family. 

Made and subscribed in duplicate at Hancock, Michigan, the date above mentioned. 

W. T. Harkis, 

Party of the first part. 
Sigfrid Sotka, 

Witness: Party of the second part. 

John J. Eichkern. 
J. H. Jasbercj. 



62 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

Wc have reason to suppose that the general superintendent of edu- 
cation for Alaska must have agreements or contracts with all the mis- 
sions to whom he has made loans of deer whereby it was stipulated 
that such missions would make some return for a valuable considera- 
tion, and it will be observed that m}^ comments on the proposed rules 
and regulations assume that he, as agent of the Government, can 
explain just what such stipulations cover. 

Your particular attention is asked to ExhibitsF, G,H, 1, .7,K, L, M, 
N, O, P, the same purporting to be copies of certain contracts with the 
parties to whom deer have been loaned, these being all that I have 
been able to obtain. The Laplanders, viz, Spein, Sara, Nilima, Kle- 
metson, and Bahr, as shown b>^ Exhibits L, M, N, O, K, agreed to 
teach the reindeer business to Eskimo men, but I find nothing in the 
contracts with the missions whereby anything whatever of value was 
promised, as shown by Exhibits G, I, F. The loans shown by Exhib- 
its F, H, J are to Okitkoon, Tatpan, and Dunnuk, all natives, irregu- 
lar, as I view it, but not knowing the circumstances I can not sa}^ as to 
whether they were proper at the time the}^ were made or not. 

If it should prove that the Bureau has no contracts with missions at 
Wales, Golovin, Tanana, Barrow, Teller, Carmel, Unalakleet, Deering, 
and St. Lawrence Island, or at any other place or places where deer 
have been loaned, whereby the missions have agreed to return some- 
thing besides giving back a like number of deer after five years, we 
must at least conclude that the transactions were of a questionable 
character, but 1 can only submit the matter as I find it. 

In closing permit me to say that the matter of interesting the natives 
generally in the deer business will for years be a serious problem. It 
is useless to expect the Eskimos to at once grasp the idea that it is all 
intended for their own good. 

Eskimos have never formed habits of industry, and it will require 
generations to bring about the change. 

With these barbarians there is little law or incentive that is not 
based upon cold and hunger. They work hard for food, but a tem- 
porary supply once acquired no lasting lesson of thrift has been 
learned. 

Unlike experienced Indian Service teachers, emploj^ees come into 
this field without precedents or knowledge of the race, and conditions 
do not permit visits from one station to another for conference, so 
there is no opportunity to make comparisons in the work or to estab- 
lish uniform plans of operation in teaching. 

In Alaska it seems to be every man for himself; as yet, compara- 
tively few natives appear inclined to take up deer raising when it is 
left to themselves, as it means regularity of work of an irksome char- 
acter, which is distasteful to him. Herding requires a tenacity of pur- 
pose wholly new, and even if the natives took willingl}^ to the new 
order of things, where is the food for himself and family coming from 
if he spends his time watching deer? The answer comes at once. 
They must be fed by those who put them into their new environment. 

Local workers in the service state that a few of the natives seem to 
take pride in the deer, but the rank and tile appear indifferent. Hence 
it will be seen that superintendents need tact, with strong will and 
persuasive powers to make a success of the work or to accomplish 
much with the natives. 

It is useless to expect Eskimos to appreciate that the reindeer, so far 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 63 

as the Government controls them, are intended for their benefit, and 
little expression of gratitude may be looked for. 

He who thinks man}' of the lessons tauoht, which are not fully illus- 
trated, will penetrate much below the skin, shows his lack of knowledge 
of aboriginal races. 

The report of one of the earlj^ teachers that he secured his first 
pupils through giving them a piece of pilot bread every time they came 
to school, when his persuasive powers had failed, proved himself a 
close observer of the tield. 

Some opposition to an earl}' and tinal settlement of all loan accounts 
may be looked for. Still we must believe, if due forethought was exer- 
cised at the beginning, some plan of winding up the loan business was 
considered. At any rate, this should be done as speedily as possible. 

Meanwhile no exact regulations can be tixed that will be applicable 
to all places where the deer are now held. The amount invested by 
the Government is too great and the industry too important to be 
lightly brushed away. 

For some thirteen years it has been argued that the introduction and 
propagation of deer for the Eskimo was both necessary and appropri- 
ate, and it is to be regretted that the deer are not to-day wholly in the 
hands of the Government or the natives. If the copies of contracts 
exhibited are representatives of others outstanding, it will be seen 
that those now in possession of deer have one-sided agreements. 

RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR REINDEER. 

A conspicuous feature of my instructions is that requiring of me an 
expression of my views as to the advisability of the adoption of cer- 
tain rules and regulations submitted to me in said instructions as 
Exhibit C. 1 respectfully return said rules and regulations and make 
them a part of this report as Exhibit C. 

With the provisions found therein we are confronted with the very 
idea so often mentioned in this report, viz, the unfortunate mixing 
up of mission reindeer with those of the Government, a condition that 
prevails to that extent that there are cases where the local superin- 
tendents do not know, or pretend to know, just how the ownership 
stands, or what, if anything, others besides the Government and the 
natives have agreed to do. 

Until that can be settled, which will require more time to ferret out 
than I feel at liberty to consume, the questions involved as to just 
what rules should be put in force I am unable to determine with suffi- 
cient certainty to warrant positive recommendations in certain partic- 
ulars, but I beg leave to refer to the general trend of this report, 
throughout which the general policy of getting the animals into the 
hands of the natives as fast as their capacity for caring for them can 
be developed has been made prominent. 

1 would therefore respectfully advise that a part of the school work 
of the larger boys should be regular service with the herders for 
periods of not less than one month throughout the entire year, where 
those in charge of the herds should be required to give the boys such 
ti'aining as they need for an understanding of the business. This 
arrangement will not place many boys with the herders at an}^ one 
time, and, based upon past experience in training boys unacquainted 
with the white man's ways, better results may be expected when boys 
begin at an early age. 



64 EDUCATIONAL AXD SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

By this means all of the hoys will have pieliniinary trainino- for the 
work, so that when they take up a regular apprenticeship they are in 
a measure familiar with the duties. It is believed that a service of 
three years by an apprentice is long enoui^h, and in that time it can be 
settled as to whether or not he will ever be willino- to take up the deer 
business as an occupation. Three deer should be set apart for each 
apprentice each year, and they, with their increase, should be turned 
over to him at the end of the term, when thev should be assigned to 
hini under a written contract that he will not kill, sell, or give away 
any female deer for a period of twenty years, nor will he give awa^-, 
sell, or kill any male deer until he shall have permission to do so from 
a representative of the Government, in writing, excepting, of course, 
that he ma\^ sell both male and female deer to the Goveriunent, but 
under no condition shall he part title with the female deer excepting 
to the Government, meaning by this that he shall not lease to white men. 

Without exact information as to what contracts are outstanding, it 
can not be detinitely settled as to who is to furnish the subsistence, 
clothing, and shelter for apprentices by anything found in Exhibit 
C, as submitted to me, for it is by no means certain that the missions 
have agreed to do this. 

The word ''station," without definition, as put down in Exhibit C, 
is an ambiguous descriptive term, and under it either the Government 
or the mission might be expected to furnish the subsistence to the 
apprentices, and this matter should be determined by calling upon the 
Bureau to exhibit whatever contracts it may have entered into, when 
the Department can act understandingly. I consider the matter of 
the support of the apprentices as one of the most important features 
to be looked after, and the adroitness displayed in using the unde- 
fined term "station" in a transaction which will involve the outlay of 
many thousands of dollars is noticeable, to say the least. The plan 
which requires the herder, after having the deer assigned to him for 
twenty years, to provide his own subsistence, seems to be both fair 
and appropriate. 

Making rules as to how the deer are to be disposed of in the case of 
death is somewhat difficult, and can only be satisfactorily arranged in 
the written contract which the native makes when the deer are assigned 
to him for twenty 3^ears, wherein the disposition of the deer and their 
increase can be provided for in the case of his death. 

It will be found advisable to guard against building up a reindeer 
aristocracy among the natives b}^ making it impossible for one person 
to acquire a large herd as against other natives who have eciual rights 
so far as the intentions of the Government extend. Above all things 
it should be carefullv set out in all leases, assignments, or whatever 
agreement is made, that no female deer shall go out of the hands of a 
native excepting back to the Government. 

All superintendents and agents should be appointed by the Secretary 
of the Interior. The keeping of records has been sadly neglected and 
more exactness should be insisted upon. Local superintendents are 
not fully to blame for the shiftless way in which business has been 
carried on as they have never been provided with suitable record 
books and blanks. The deer in Alaska are worth to-day not less than 
$250,000, and every safeguard should be used to protect the Govern- 
ment's rights. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 65 

CONCLUSION. 

Such critici.siiis ats are found in the foregoing report are intended 
for the betterment of the service and in the interest of good govern- 
ment and the relief and ultimate improvement of the natives. Per- 
sons not in sympathy with this aim should have no place in Alaska 
under pay of the Government. More than once the difficulties of 
keeping in touch with the field, for the want of mail and ti'ansportation 
facilities, have been pointed out. Most of the difficulties and per- 
plexities to be encountered are ph3'sical rather than political. Some 
of the work reviewed has at times been enough to dishearten strong 
men. Therefore 1 admit that an apologetic spirit should pervade this 
report. Some of the loose and slipshod methods may have arisen in 
certain cases ahnost entirely from a lack of means to so instruct 
employees and others that there should be entire unison or harmony 
of action, while some of the blunders have come from a lack of busi- 
ness experience along legitimate and economical lines and to the limita- 
tions and imperfections of human knowledge. 

The policy of carving on a great work b}' putting the Government 
into such close business connections with various institutions, has been 
tried, and the results can not be regarded as entirely successful or sat- 
isfactoiT, at any rate not sufficiently so that the policy inaugurated 
should be perpetuated. If an out-and-out subsidy policy can be 
adopted whereby yearly contracts can be made for the education of 
native children in Alaska, it may be safely looked upon with favor as 
to several places, but in the event that such a plan should be put in 
operation it should be upon a strictly cash basis. I know of no way 
for legally subsidizing sectarian schools. The yearly reports of the 
Bureau furnish entertaining reading, and they are embellished with 
numerous half-tone pictures, more or less appropriate, but these 
reports appear to be deficient in two particulars; first, they do not 
give detailed statements of the receipts and disbursements, and 
secondly, they do not provide in any one set of tables that I have 
found the information necessary for a complete understanding of the 
status of the reindeer business. 

One of the district superintendents told me that there were only 
two herds in Alaska that had been actually counted, and this, count was 
made in December, 1904. The impression has gone out from the 
Bureau — in fact I was told that the reindeer cost from $3 to ^5 in trade 
goods, but it now appears that, adding the expense of securing them, 
that the cost has been on the average six or eight times that. 

Imperfect as the facilities now are for reaching Alaska points where 
schools are now carried on, they are much improved since the rush 
following the discovery of gold by an ex-herder at Nome; still, the 
want of frequent boats makes an ever-present obstacle in carrying on 
school work, and as to some places prohibits in its entirety suitable 
attention to details. 

For obvious reasons the work intrusted to me has been done more 
or less hurriedly, but I shall feel deeply disappointed if I have failed 
in my efforts to lay before j'ou a tolerabl}'^ clear presentation of exist- 
ing conditions. 

Based upon my own observations and such information as I have 
been able to gather, I respectfully recommend: 
S. Doc. 483, 5^1 5 



66 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

First. That no inoi-c reindeer ))o loaned to any person or association 
of i)ersons without the speeitic authority of the Secretar^^ of the 
Interior in writing, and then only under a written contract supported 
by good and sufficient sureties. 

Second. In case it is found that the Bureau of Education, or any 
person acting in its behalf, has placed property of the Tnited States 
beyond its control in Alaska w^ithout a consideration, that the person 
or persons who caused or allowed this to be done be required to show 
cause for such action. 

Third. There should be a supervisor for schools and reindeer in 
•Alaska, with headquarters for the present at Nome, and this supervisor 
should have a deputy or assistant, so that the entire territory can be 
looked over at least once ever}' year. The supervisor should be 
required to keep a full and complete record of all the property of the 
Government as well as a roll of all employees, with their age. sex, 
location, and salary, and these employees should be required to make 
monthly and quarterly statements to the supervisor, in triplicate, and 
all correspondence from and to the Department should go through his 
office. He should be special disbursing agent, and in that capacitv 
pa}' all authorized expenses incident to school and reindeer affairs, and 
generally to do and perform all things necessary to the proper manage- 
ment of school and reindeer affairs, he to be at all times directly under 
the orders of the Secretai-y of the Interior, to whom he should report 
monthly, quarterly, and annually, setting forth in detail all the 
expenses connected with his office, and from time to time make such 
recommendations as he may deem wise and expedient. 

Fourth. That such legislation, if any l)e needed, to carry the above 
reconnnendations into effect, be asked for. 

Fifth. That excepting, in so far as the duties ai-e delegated to the 
supervisor, the entire management and control of schools and reindeer 
should remain in the Department proper. 

Sixth. That the loaning of deer upon lines heretofore practiced 
should be looked upon with disfavor. 

Seventh. That, so far as practical)le, only such persons as are skilled 
in medicine should be employed as teachers in the arctic and sub- 
arctic schools. 

Eighth. That Congi-ess be asked to so amend the Nelson Act, approved 
January 27, 1905 (Public— No. 26), that all the schools in Alaska out- 
side of the incorporated towns be under tlie control of the Secretar}- 
of the Interior. 

Such other suggestions and recommendations as seem appropriate 
and necessar}' will be found in the body of this report. 

I have the honor to remain, 

Very respectfully, Fkank C. Churchill, 

Special Agent. 

Hon. E. A. Hitchcock, 

Secretonj of, the biter lor. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 67 

Exhibit A. 

Stopped at Wraiigell, October 0, for about one hour while steamship Cit)/ of Seattle 
discharged passengers, etc. Wrote Rev. H. P. Corser that 1 would consider any 
information he wished to submit. — F. C. C. 

Wrangell, Alaska, August 31, 1905. 
Churchill, P^sq., Sitka, Alai^ka. 



Dear Sir: I beg the privilege of calling your attention to the necessity of a visit to 
Wrangell and the west side of Prince of Wales Island in your study of the school 
question of Alaska. 1 believe that some very interesting facts will be disclosed by 
such a trip. 

Yours, very truly, Harry P. Corser, 

Pastor of the Peoples Church. 

Wrangell, Alaska, Nomnher 16, 1905. 

Dear Sir: In reply to your letter of November 4 I beg to offer the following: 

I would first call attention to the close and very intimate relation existing between 
the Government schools of Alaska and the Presbyterian Church. 

I came to Alaska six and one-half years ago as a Presbyterian missionary. My 
attention was called to the slack management of the (xovernment schools in south- 
eastern Alaska; whites and Indians were both suffering. As for example at that 
time there was not in the town of Wrangell (and the town then was as large as now) 
a boy or girl under 10 years of age that knew as much as the multiplication table. 

I published a criticism in the local paper charging mismanagement of the public 
schools. I received a letter from the home board of Presbyterian missions directing 
me not to publish any more criticisms of Doctor Jackson or any of their workers. I 
have not this letter, but no doubt there is a copy of it on the files of the Presbyterian 
Home Board. I have been told by several fellow missionaries that it is not good 
policy to criticise Doctor Jackson's work. I did criticise him and have been dropped 
out of the church ( Presley terian). You can easily imagine the effect that such a con- 
dition would have on the schools. 

At the present time the teacher in the school at Jackson, at Klawack, at Shakan, 
at Kassan, at Wrangell, at "T" Harbor, at Juneau (?), at Sitka (?), are graduates of 
Park College, Missouri, a Presbyterian institution, an institution largely officered by 
the McAfee family, a member of this family being the school secretary of the Pres- 
byterian Board of Home Missions. 

Now, granted that these young people are estimalile young people, with some, at 
least, theoretical missionary zeal. Park College is a second-rate classical school. 
These people are not prepared by their education for tlie work they undertake. 

A graduate from an industrial school would be far better. A graduate from Car- 
lisle, even, would be far better fitteci for the work that the Alaska teacher is called 
upon to do. I had a talk with one of the teachers that began work this year. I 
said to her it would be a good thing to introduce sewing into the school. She 
exclaimed, "Must I teach sewing?" She is now teaching in the Wrangell Indian 
school. This is only an illustration. Young, inexperienced people are placed in the 
schools without any instruction as to their duties or any special preparation for their 
work. They are never called for a convention to discuss methods of work. Is it 
strange, then, that the school work of southeastern Alaska is largely a failure? 

Further, I would speak of Governor Brady and Judge Kelly. 

Judge Kelly has been the local superintendent for southeastern Alaska for a number 
of years. With him there has been a marked neglect of duty. His visits to the 
schools have been very infrequent, not averaging once a year, and when he has 
visited them he has made scarcely any effort to ascertain the actual condition of the 
schools. Before Wrangell was incorporated, for example, he has visited the schools 
here and while in the town he did not call on any of the school committee to ascer- 
tain their views, and he always has ignored a large part of the best citizens in find- 
ing out what are the actual conditions of the scliool. 

Mr. Kelly's record is such that leads people to believe that he wall use his official 
position to reward those who are officially connected with Presbyterian work. For 
exam))le, when he was census enumerator he made the following ajipointments: 
Rev. Edward Marsden, Presbyterian missionary, enumerator for the Ketchikan dis- 
trict; Lee ^^'akefiekl, married into an Alaska Presbyterian missionary family, enu- 
merator for the Wrangell district; a teacher in the Sitka school, enumerator for the 
Sitka district. 

Further than this I am not informed. 



68 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

The story of the Klawak School building i.« interesting. 

Four years ago I visited Klawak. At that time there was no missionary there, 
and the school was closed. I held services in the schoolhouse. The schoolroom was 
amply large for a school, but not large enough for a church. At the rear of the 
schoolroom were two rooms for the teacher. Shortly after my visit there a Presby- 
terian missionary was sent to Klawak, who took possession of the schoolhouse. 

The next winter Hall Young, the syno<lical missionary, visited Klawak. He 
returned by the way of Wrangell, and met Judge Kelly in my room. This conver- 
sation was carried on in my hearing: He told Mr. Kelly of the good work that Mr. 
Wagner, the Presbyterian missionary, was doing, and then suggested certain altera- 
tions that should be made in the school building to make it more comfortable for Mr. 
Wagner and his family. The two rooms in the rear were to be made a part of the 
main room, and then the space upstairs was to be fixed up as living rooms for the 
missionary. ]Mr. Young asked Mr. Kelly if this could be done. Mr. Kelly replied 
he thought so. I know that those alterations have been made, and I am informed 
largely with Government money. 

There has been a woeful mismanagement in the erection of the new Government 
school buildings this year. 

The one in Wrangell has cost the Government |5,900. The town this year has put 
up a much better school Vjuilding for $3,000. 

There has been even more extravagance in Kake, Shakan, Klawak, and Haskan. 

There has l)een no graft, but just a want of management. There has been enough 
wasted in all of these places to have fitted out the schools with the most approved 
apparatus for industrial work. The Indian schools need a good, live, industrious, 
conscientious, broad-minded superintendent. Both Governor Brady and Mr. Kelly 
have been tried and found wanting. The Indians need some one who will study 
conditions as they are in Alaska and solve them. 
Yours, very truly, 

H.\RRY p. C0R.SER. 

F. C. Churchill, Esq., Washington, D. C. 



Exhibit B. 

At Sea, Arctic Ocean, 
Aboard U. S. S. Bear, Anyusf 2, 1905. 

I, Albert Oleson, of lawful age, being duly sworn, depose and say: F«r the past 
year I have been employed as a carpenter in building the combined school and 
dwelling house at Barrow, Alaska, and at Wainwright Inlet, Alaska, where I have 
erected a similar building. I am acquainted with Rev. S. R. Spriggs, who is a 
schoolteacher at Barrow. I am also acquainted with Captain Cook, who is master 
of the schooner Laura Madden, owned by S. P'oster & Co., of San Francisco, Cal. 
The said Foster & Co. furnished the lumber and materials for the erection of the 
building above named at Barrow, and it was brought to Barrow by said schooner. 
Captain Cook told me that he paid said Spriggs the sum of $750 for lightering the above- 
mentioned lumber and materials from the schooner to the shore, and that the labor 
incident to such lightering was performed by the native Eskimos. The said Spriggs is 
understood to be the superintendent of the reindeer herd and teacher of the school 
at Barrow. 

During the time that I remained at Barrow the school was taught by Rev. John H. 
Kilbuck. Said Spriggs is the contractor for carrying the mail from Barrow to Kotzebue, 
and I understand he receives $750 each trip and that he is required to make two 
trips each winter. The mail is carried on dog teams driven by natives. 

Albert Olsen. 

Subscribed and sworn before me at the time and place first above written. 

O. C. Hamlet. 
United t^tatea Commissioner in and for the District of Alaska. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA, 69 

Exhibit C. 

Tentative regulatio)is regarding the reindeer stations in the district of Alaska, submitted 
for consideration and einbodi/ing the suggestions for the betterment thereof made orally 
by the Department. 

For the supervision of the United States reindeer stations among the F.skimo and 
Indians, Alaska is divided into two districts, northwestern and central, which shall 
conform to geographic divisions as follows: 

Section 1. Northwestern, comprising the coac-t region of Alaska bordering on the 
Arctic Ocean; it shall also include the reindeer stations at Wales, Teller, and 
Gam bell. 

Sec. 2. Central, comprising the coast region of Alaska bordering on Bering Sea 
between Golofnin and Bristol Bay; it shall also include the reindeer stations in the 
Yukon and Kuskokwim valleys. 

DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENTS. 

Sec. 8. The Commissioner of Education shall, subject to the approval of the 
Secretary of the Interior, appoint a superintendent for each of the two districts. 

Sec. 4. It shall be the duty of each of the district superintendents to exercise 
general supervision over the reindeer stations in his district; he shall assist in the 
administration of the stations and shall perform such duties in connection with 
them as may be assigned him by the Commissioner of Education with the approval 
of the Secretary. 

Sec. 5. Each district superintendent shall visit and inspect the easily accessible 
stations in his district quarterly, and the more remote districts as often as practicable, 
consistent with weather conditions, but not less than twice a year; he shall examine 
their organizations, classification, methods of instruction, and discipline; he shall 
observe the condition of the public property at the stations, note the general tone 
of the stations, the efficiency and adaptability of the apprentices and herders, and 
he shall give the station superintendents, apprentices, and herders such advice and 
assistance as he may deem necessary. 

Sec. 6. The district superintendent shall see that the rules and regulations of the 
Bureau of Education regarding the loaning of reindeer to apprentices and herders, as 
hereinafter provided, are fully observed, and he shall report to the Commissioner of 
Education every case of neglect of said rules and regulations. 

Sec. 7. Each district superintendent shall submit (juarterly reports to the Commis- 
sioner of Education concerning the condition and requirements of the stations and 
the management of the reindeer herds in his district. He shall make such recom- 
mendations as in his judgment may conduce to the usefulness of the stations. 

Sec. 8. District superintendents shall he allowed necessary traveling expenses in 
the discharge of their official duties. 

STATION superintendents. 

Sec 9. Each reindeer station shall be under the charge of a resident superintendent, 
who shall have the immediate oversight of the apprentices, herders, reindeer herd, 
and public property at his station. 

Sec. 10. The station superintendent shall enforce the rules and regulations regard- 
ing the distribution of reindeer among native apprentices and herders, as hereinafter 
provided. 

Sec IL Every station superintendent must be present at the annual marking of 
the reindeer and see that all reindeer are correctly marked according to ownership. 

Sec 12. The station superintendent shall allow inspection of the station and herd 
at any time by the district superintendent or by any other person who shall be 
assigned to said duty by the commissioner of education. 

Sec 13. The station superintendent shall furnish one copy of each agreement or 
permit made with or for any apprentice to the district superintendent and one copy 
to the commissioner of education. 

Sec. 14. Every station superintendent shall make an annual report regarding the 
apprentices, herders, reindeer herd, and public property at his station to the general 
agent of education in Alaska in accordance with the forms furnished by the Bureau 
of Education. 



70 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SEEVICE, ETC.^ IN ALASKA. 

APPRENTICES. 

Sec. 15. At each station "boys in the school above the age of 15 shall be given 
practical training in herding, being detailed by the station superintendent for service 
in the reindeer herd for at least one month in each school year. Boys so detailed 
shall report in relays to the chief herder, who shall assign them for service under 
competent herders, "care being taken that the number detailed shall not at any tinae 
exceed 5 boys for each apprentice. Said boys shall not receive remuneration for their 
servi(«s, but shall receive rations from the station while employed with the herd. 
The chief herder shall keep a record of their work, and apprentices as far as practi- 
cable shall be selected from among those boys who show the greatest aptitude in 
herding. 

Sec. 16. Each apprentice, commencing with the close of the first year of his 
apprenticship, if his work is approved, shall be loaned two female reindeer and two 
additional female reindeer at the close of each succeeding year until he has com- 
pleted the three years of his apprenticeship, and the station superintendent shall 
cause the deer thus loaned to him to be marked for him in the usual manner by 
cutting the ear or by inserting in the ear an aluminum ear mark, and record of the 
same shall be made in the station register. 

Sec. 17. The number of apprentices to be intrusted with deer for'training under 
the supervision of a herder must be in the following proportion: One apprentice for 
50 and not more that 75 female reindeer in the station herd, 2 for every 76 to 125 
female reindeer, 3 for every 126 to 175 female reindeer, and 1 additional apprentice 
for each additional 50 female reindeer. 

Sec 18. Each apprentice shall be required to attend the publi© school at his 
station two sessions of one month each during each school year, said sessions separated 
by intervals of from two to four months. 

Sec 19. If any apprentice shall die or shall abandon the reindeer that have been 
loaned to him before the expiration of the term of his appenticeship, said reindeer 
and their increase shall be returned to the station herd. 

Sec. 20. The station superintendent shall have the power of suspending any 
apprentice at any time during the period of his apprenticeship and return to the 
station herd the reindeer that have Ijeen loaned to him and their increase, in case 
there be just cause, and, with the written approval of the district superintendent, 
may dismiss said apprentice. 

Sec 21. During this period of three years' apprenticeship the apprentice shall not 
be permitted to dispose of any of the reindeer that have been loaned to him, nor their 
increase. 

Sec. 22. At the close of the three years' apprenticeship, if the apprentice has been 
faithful and gives promise of making a successful deer man, the reindeer that have 
been loaned him and their increase shall be reloaned to him for a period of twenty 
years from the close of his apprenticeship; the apprentice shall then become a herder 
and entry shall be made of the same in the station register and reported to the Com- 
missioner of Education. 

herders. 

Herders shall be subject to the following rules and regulations: 

Sec 23. During the period of twenty years from the commencement of his term as 
herder, the herder shall not sell, exchange, give, kill, or in any way dispose of any 
female reindeer except to the Government. The herder may, however, with the 
written approval of the station aad district superintendents, during this period of 
twenty years dispose of surplus male reindeer for the support of his family. He 
shall retain in his herd 2 bulls and at least 6 trained steers in every herd of 50 adult 
reindeer. A detailed report of all such disposals shall be rendered as far as practi- 
cable quarterlv to the commissioner. 

Sec 24. In case of the death of a herder before the expiration of said period of 
twenty years, his herd shall revert to the Government or station from which he 
received the loan, for reassignment of loan to his heir or heirs, provided, in the judg- 
ment of the station superintendent and the district superintendent, said heir or heirs 
have the requisite skill, knowledge, and steadiness of character to manage the herd of 
the deceased. If said heir or heirs do not have the requisite skill to manage said herd 
properly, but show a desire to learn, then said herd shall be kept with the station 
herd for said heir or heirs until the completion of the apprenticeship of said heir or 
heirs, when a number of reindeer equal to the original number left by the deceased, 
without the annual increase, shall be divided among said heirs, share and share 
alike. 

Sec 25. In case there is no heir competent to take charge of the herd or that mani- 
fests a desire to learn, then the station superintendent or district superintendent 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA. 71 

shall take possession of the herd of the deceased, returning it to the Government 
or to the station that made the original loan, at the same time making, as far as 
possible, suitable provision for the widow and children of the deceased. 

Sec. 26. During the twenty years of probation each native herder shall be under 
the control of the station superintendent, and shall with his family remain with the 
herd at least ten months of each year. 

Sec. 27. If during the twenty years' probation a herder shall become intemperate 
or from any other cause neglect his herd, it shall be the duty of the station superin- 
tendent to take charge of said herd and place it under the control of a member of 
the herder's family who may be competent to manage the herd. 

If there is no member of the herder's family who is competent to assume control, 
the herd shall be kept one year with the station herd, during which time its increase 
shall belong to the (Tovernment or station. If at the close of the year the herder 
does not give sub.stantial evidence of reformation said herd shall revert to the Gov- 
ernment or station making the loan. 

Sec. 28. If a disagreement shall arise between a herder and the station superin- 
tendent, the matter shall be submitted to the district superintendent for arbitration, 
and an appeal can be taken from the district superintendent to the United States 
Connnissioner of Education. 

Sec. 29. If any of these rules and regulations regarding the reindeer service are 
violated by a herder, the station superintendent, at his discretion, shall take charge 
of the herd of said herder until the next visit of the district superintendent, when a 
hearing shall l)e given to all parties interested and a decision rendered by the district 
superintendent. If the action of the station superintendent is approved by said dis- 
trict superintendent, then the herd, with all its increase, shall revert to the Govern- 
ment or station which loaned the original herd. An appeal may be taken from the 
district superintendent to the Commissioner of Education. 

Sec. 30. If at the expiration of the period of twenty years of probation the herder has 
faithfully complied with these rules and regulations, then each and every reindeer in 
his charge, including living fawns born to the same, shall become the private property 
of said herder, to be disposed of as he sees fit; and he shall thereafter be free from 
all conditions and liabilities, except the limitation prohibiting the sale of female 
deer. 

W. T. Harris, Commissioner. 



Depart.mext op the Interior, Bureau of Education, 

Wa.thington, D. ('., May 10, 1905. 

Sir: I have the honor to call your attention to the change requested by you in the 
rules recommended by me for your consideration for the government of the instruc- 
tion of the apprentices at the reindeer stations in Alaska, and ask permission to say 
that the shortening of the period of apprenticeship for herders to the term of three 
years would, in my opinion, very much impair the efficiency of instruction in the 
care of the reindeer, and would probably at some of the stations make it impossible 
to secure most of the good results. 

Briefly stated, the art of herding reindeer and training to harness is a trade far more 
difficult to learn than the herding of neat cattle and horses. Reindeer are more timid 
animals than neat cattle, and in the fawning .season (which begins in the early spring 
and lasts until jNIay ) much experience is necessary on the part of the herder in order 
to acquire the best methods of saving the fawns, especially because the early spring 
is a time of blizzards. 

It would 1)0 difficult for average farmers and herdsmen in the States with all the 
intelligence of civilized white men to secure the requisite amount of ability to make 
good herdsmen in three years. 

In the case of the Eskimo apprentices we deal with a race that has gained its sub- 
sistence by hunting and fishing and not by herding and teaming, and these arts are 
difficult to acquire on the part of a people entirely unprepared by heredity for the 
work. It requires a great store of patience and persistence in order to acquire the 
art of herding. A day's impatience with the reindeer make them shy and disposed 
to break the monotonous routine, to which the herd should Le subject and to 
stray away from the herd or to be impatient of the restraint which a well-ordered 
herd accepts as a matter of course. In other words, the deer are more apt to" 
relapse to wild habits than horses or neat cattle. 

Then, as to the matter of teaming, it requires almost as much skill to keep one's 
balance in a reindeer sledge as is needed for an acrobat who walks on a tight rope, 
and such skill can rarely l)e attained on the part of the average reindeer man under 
seven or eight vears. 



72 EDUCATrONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

Further, as to the acquirenient of thrifty habits sufficient to i)revent the childish 
native from parting with his herd or from yielding to the persuasions of cunning and 
unscrupulous white j)eople who seek to obtain possession of his reindeer, it naturally 
requires more years of association with the (Jovernment teacher than are needed 
merely for the acquirenient of herding and teaming. 

Five years was the period set at first, on the suggestion of Doctor Jackson. I 
yielded to his suggestion, but with protest, thinking that so many years were not 
necessary nor desirable, but 1 admit that experience has shown that he was right. 
And for another reason, namely, that of furnishing an outfit in reindeer for the 
apprentice, I have found myself obliged to conclude that six years has a decided 
advantage over five years. In the first place, one year longer increases the experi- 
ence of the aj^prentice far more than a ratio of six to five would indicate, because the 
work of his last year tests his directive power much more than that of tlie first year. 
The first year tests his mechanii-al skill, but does not test his directive ]jower — in 
the matters of self-control and in matters of organizing the work of assistants, and 
also the ability to manage the herd in case of sudden emergencies. A further con- 
sideration—very important — is that the apprentice shall acquire a nucleus of a herd 
that shall contain at least 50 reindeer, because with such a herd he can support him- 
self and his family by the annual increase of surplus male reindeer. Without deriv- 
ing support from his herd he is obliged to desert it and take up his okl trades of 
hunting and fishing in order to obtain a store of food sufficient for the year. 

Supposing that the apprentice receives 2 female reindeer at the end of the first 
year of his regulai' apprenticeship, 2 additional at the end of the second year, and 2 
more at the end of the third year, his total of deer, as will be seen from the follow- 
ing table, will amount to 12 reindeer, including the increase from the deer given 
him and from the fawns born in the second and third years. If the apprentice com- 
pletes his apprenticeship at the end of the third year he can not do anything with 
the 12 deer as an independent herd of his own. It requires as much time for him 
to take care of 12 reindeer as it would to take care of 100, and this care of his small 
herd interferes -seriously with his following the old pursuits of hunting and fishing 
for his chief .'ui)ply of food, and his herd is not large enough to furnish any surjtlus 
male reindeer that may be slaughtered for food and clothing. Of his 12 deer, 6 
have been presented to him — 2 at the end of the first year, 2 at the end of his 
second year, and 2 at the end of his third year. 

The reindeer given him the first year have l)orne him 4 fawns, namely 2 in the 
spring of the second year and 2 in the spriiig of the third year, and the reindeer 
given at the close of his second year have borne 2 fawns in the spring of the third 
year. Of this total of 6 fawns born in the second and third year for the apprentice, 
one-half are males, namely 3, so that his herd of 12 consists of 9 females and 3 males, 
1 male being in his seconci year and 2 of the males in their first year. In the case of 
the apprenticeship of four years, with gifts of 2 reindeer at the close of each yeai-, 
counted with their increase, the apprentice would have a herd of 22 reindeer; at the 
close of the fifth year a herd of 3t>, and at the close of the sixth year 58, a herd which 
is sufficient to support, with its increase, the herder and his wife and children. 

Counting the new fawns, one-half males, one-half females, which is according to 
experience, at the close of the third year the total of 12 would consist of 3 males and 
9 females; for the fourth jear 7 males and 15 females; for the fifth year 13 males and 
23 females; for the sixth year 23 males and .35 females. If 12 males were used for 
food and clothing for his family in the course of his first in<lependent year, there 
would remain 11 males in his herd and 35 females, a sufficient number of males for 
teaming purposes. At the close of the sixth year the apprentice accordingly has a 
sufficient numl)er to form an independent herd of his own, which should l)e stationed 
at some place not nearer than 50 miles to the station herd and not too far off for 
supervision of the station superintendent, and assistance from him in the way of 
advice and protection from cheats and marauders. 

I have the honor to call your attention, secondly, to another change requested by 
you, relating to the number of school pupils over 15 years of age detailed from the 
school to take lessons in herding. You suggest that the numl)er may be as great as 
five to each regular apprentice in the herd. This change in ordinary cases would 
not make any difference, because there are in the schools few pupils that are over 15 
years of age, and would not likely be even so many as one pupil to each herder 
and regular apprentice, lint in case there should be so many pupils assigned to make 
it neccessary to pat two boys with one of the assistant herders it would work evil, 
and if there were five pupils to each apprentice it would render impossible the proper 
management of the herd There was an old rule that the work of one Iwy is equiva- 
lent to half a man, the work of two boys together is equal to half a boy, and the work 
of three boys is equal to no boy at all. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 



73 



In the case of novices, one novice detailed to assist a herder furnishes some real 
assistance, but if two novices are assigned, according to human nature, two novices 
working together waste much of their time in teasing and bantering each other and 
therefore distract the attention and weaken the endeavor of the regular apprentice 
or herder with whom they are placed as assistants. Five novices as assistants would 
need not only the whole time of the apprentice, but also the assistance of a herdsman 
to keep them in order. Teasing and bantering of apprentices are entirely out of place 
in the management of a reindeer herd, inasmuch as they would tend to destroy the 
order which must prevail in the herd and cause a lapse into wildness on the part of 
the most timid of the herd. 

These considerations make it seem to me very important to limit the number of 
novices present in the herd at any one time to one for each regular apprentice. But, 
inasmuch as the detail for novice work in the herd is limited to a month at a time, 
there would be an opportunity for eight or ten novices, one at a time, with each 
apprentice in the course of the school year. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

W. T. Harris, Cotinnissioner. 

Number of deer giren to apprentices at dose of year. 





First 
year. 


Second 
year. 


Third 
year. 


Fourth 
year. 


Fifth 
year. 


Sixth 
year. 


A 

B 


2 


4 

2 


6 
4 
2 


10 
6 

4 
2 


14 
10 
6 
4 


22 
14 


C 


10 


D 




6 


E 




4 


F 1 






2 














Total 

Male deer 


2 


6 
1 


12 
3 


22 
7 


3ti 
13 


58 







Exhibit D. 

The Board of Home Missions of the 
Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, 

1-56 Fifth arenue, AVw York, November ^9, 1905. 

My Dear Sir: Referring once more to your request that this office should furnish 
you with certain information as to its Alaskan work, and, further, to your letter of 
November 18, I beg now to say: This whole matter has had to be dug out from tiles 
which were very imperfectly kept, back in the time covered by the investigation. 
We have now, however, been able to satisfy curs-elves as to the two points upon 
which you <lesire information. 

Answering your first question which was: " To what date was Sheldon Jackson 
employed by this board," I beg to say, Doctor Jackson was acting as presbyterial 
missionary of this board in Alaska under salary up to March 1, 1897. Since that 
time Doctor Jackson has, in connection with his duties as supervisor of education in 
Alaska, given some incidental attention to our work in that region on account of 
which certain small payments have been made to him. 

Your second question, asking "as to the history of present buildings at Point Bar- 
row as to ownership," etc., will be practically answered by the following statements: 

We own two buildings which were erected at Point Barrow by this ])oard in the 
years 1893-94, one of them, 16 by 32 feet, used as a dwelling, storehouse, and work- 
shop, and the other, 26 by 50 feet, used as a schoolhouse and church. These two 
buildings cost the board, as jwr vouchers on tile, including freight, $4,760.87. In 
the inventory of property belonging to the board at Point Barrow, for the fiscal year 
ending March 31, 1894, these two buildings are noted in such inventory as being 
complete, and reference is therein made to the further tact that "the buildings must 
be moved farther back from the beach. They are in a dangerous position." 

My notes of our interview here contain a statement made by yourself to the effect 
that about 811,000 in all was contributed by the ( iovernment for these buildings. Let 
me say that you have probably been led to this opinion through the fact that this board 
received from the United States Government during the years from 1890 to 1894 
approximately $11,000, but this was not in any sense a compensation for l)uildings, 
but was under the arrangement which all religious bodies doing mission school work 
among the Indians had at that time, l)y which such mission boards were paid cer- 
tain and specific sums for carrying on schools among such Indians. 



74 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

Further, I think you alluded, in your conversation, to the matter of )iroperty at 
St. Lawrence Island. Our records and vouchers in 1S93 show that we paid for build- 
ings at St. Lawrence Island, in May, the sum of $2,U00. 

Trusting that I have covered practically the points you desired to have covered, 
believe me, 

Yours, very truly, H. C. Olin, 

Treasurer. 
Frank C. Churchill, Esq., 

Special Agent Interior Department, Lehanon, N. 11. 



Exhibit E, 



Teller, Alaska, September 19, 1905. 

Dear Sir: I have received for tiie Bureau at this herd 100 deer from the Lutheran 
mission and 25 from the "independent herder," Doonak. I have marked them all 
with aluminum buttons. 

Mr. Brevig informed me that there had been no written contract between his 
mission and the Bureau and no record had been kept of the ages or sex of the deer 
borrowed, so we had only his memory to guide us. From the mission we marked 
70 does, 5 female fawns, 13 bucks and steers, 5 sled deer, and 7 male fawns. From 
Doonak, 6 does, 6 female fawns, 12 bucks, and 1 male fawn. I inclose you a copy 
of the receipts I gave them for the return of these deer. 

Coxrock, a mission herder, completes his five years' apprenticeship this month and 
is to receive 25 deer from the mission. Serawlook also completes his apprenticeship. 
He is considered an apprentice to Alilikak, and is to be given 25 of Ablikak's deer. 
The latter, upon the death of his father and mother in 1900, inherited about 100 
deer. He now has about 220. Mr. Brevig has acted as his guardian, having been 
appointed b_v United States Commissioner (Talen in 1900. 

As the result of this live years' loan this mission has given deer (25) to one native 
and has but one prospective graduate (apprentice) for 1906 and none for the four 
years following. In addition to the 25 deer to be given to these natives at the end of 
their apprenticeship Mr. Brevig promised them a loan of 25 for five years with the 
understanding, he says, that the Bureau was to supply deer for these loans. I ques- 
tioned this, however, and am wiring you for instruction. 

You will note that the mission or Mr. Brevig has practically had the income from 
two herds these five years, with the result that only two natives have been given 
deer. 

In July, I assisted Serawlook in sending in a bid and bond for the Teller- Wales 
mail route for this winter. Ten trips, S575. If he is awanled this contract, I have 
given him permission to use the five sled deer now in this herd. This arrangement 
is subject to your approval. 

When the mission had the Teller- Wales and the Teller-Igloo routes two years ago, 
Serawlook made these long, cold drives for $5 per trip. I am anxious to see a rein- 
deer man take a mail contract and get out of it what there is in it. 

After we had finished marking and were ready to leave the herd, I learned that 
Mr. Brevig had sold you 6 of Ablikak's female deer last ]March, so I left buttons there 
with the herders and asked them to mark them. 

Mr. Brevig informs me that $1,400 worth of (government supplies were left with 
his mission in 190.3-4, to be useil for the support of the Laplander and in purchasing 
female deer from the independent herders, and that a statement was sent you in 1904 
showing an expenditure of about $1,200, and that there is a balance hereof $210. 
This, he thinks, you will let go on the Laplander's food and clothing for this last 
year. 

I found Fred Larson, Dunnak, Sekeoglook, and Kafenuk waiting here for their 
pay for the trip to Eaton witli the herd last winter, .^s per your instructions, I pur- 
chased them supplies at the Northwestern Commercial Company's — Teller F. Larson, 
$100; Dunnak, $75; Sekeoglook, $75, and Kafenuk, $50. Tiie latter you did not 
authorize; in your letter you said nothing about his pay, so I took it that it was an 
oversight on youi" part and fixed his pay in proportion to the wages you allowed the 
others. They were out on this trip from December 16 to February 1. Remembering 
that you said the appropriation for 1904-5 was exhausted and that this bill would 
have to be paid from this year's appropriation, we receipted these bills and instructed 
the Northwestern Company to sign the vouchers and send them back with the bills. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 75 

Fred Larson was not satisfied with the pay, but I think his dissatisfaction was largely 
due to his disappointment in not receiving a loan of deer this summer. The store 
gave us very reasonable prices on the bills. 

There seemed to be at least 25 lame deer in this herd. There were none in the 
Nooluk herd at the Cape ten days ago. 
Verv truly, vours, 

\V. T. Lopp. 
Dr. Sheldon Jackson, 

General A(jent of Education in Alaska, Washington, D. C. 



Exhibit F. 

Know all men by- these presents, that this preliminary agreement (to be replaced in 
1902 bv a permanent agreement that shall more accurately define the purposes of 
the witnin paper), entered into this 1st day of July (4.1), 1901, between Sheldon 
Jackson, for and in behalf of the United States Bureau of Education, party of the 
first part, and Okitkoon, party of the second part, witnesseth: 

That the United States Bureau of Education, by said Sheldon Jackson, its agent, 
party of the first part, for the purpose of benefiting, elevating, and assisting to self- 
support the natives of Alaska, hereby continues the loan of the reindeer, with their 
offspring, entrusted to said Okitkoon, party of the second part, during his appren- 
ticeship, together with such additional reindeer as shall make the whole number 
fifty-one, consisting of fifteen males aud thirty-five females, but only upon and in 
consideration of the following agreements and limitations: 

First. During the period of seventeen years from the date of this agreement said 
party of the second part (his heirs, assigns, or executors) agrees not to sell, exchange, 
give, kill, or in any way dispose of any female deer, except to the Government or to 
a native for the purpose of enabling him to engage in the breeding and raising of 
reindeer and for no other purpose whatsoever. Said transfer to a native requires the 
written approval in duplicate of the local superintendent within whose district the 
transfer is made. The party receiving said female deer thereby becomes subject to 
the same conditions and limitations as the party of the second part. 

Second. During the period of seventeen years from the date of this agreement said 
party of the second part can dispose of male reindeer for the support of his family 
upon the written approval in duplicate of the local superintendent. 

Third. In the selection of native herders the party of the second part agrees to con- 
fer with and act upon the advice of the local superintendent, and in so far as is appli- 
cable the native herders come under the same rules and regulations that govern the 
party of the second part. 

Fourth. The party of the second part further agrees that in the case of death 
before the expiration of the said seventeen years, the herd shall return to the Gov- 
ernment for redistribution to his heirs, provided in the judgment of the superintend- 
ent and local superintendent any of the said heirs have the requisite kn(jw ledge and 
skill to manage them. 

If none of the said heirs have the requisite knowledge to manage the herd properly, 
but manifest a desire to learn, then the herd shall be kept for them until they learn, 
when the herd with half the increase shall be returned to said heir or heirs; the 
other half of the increase being retained by the Government or mission which has 
had charge of the herd. 

In case there is no heir competent to take charge of the herd, or that cares to 
learn, then the superintendent and local superintendent shall redistribute the herd, 
making as far as possible suitable provision for the widow and childi-en of the 
deceased and for his parents, if dependent upon him for a living. 

Fifth. During the seventeen years of probation each native herder shall l)e under 
the control of a local mission. 

Sixth. If a disagreement shall arise between a herder and his local superinten- 
dent, the matter shall be submitted to the general superintendent (or some one 
selected by him to act in his stead) for arbiti-ation, and an appeal can be taken 
from the general superintendent to the United States Commissioner of Education. 

Seventh. If any of the conditions or agreements above written are violated by said 
party of the second part (his heirs, assigns, or executor), the said party shall and 
wilftransfer and deliver to the United States Government, party of the second part 
(his heirs, assigns, or executors) , through Sheldon Jackson or his successor in office, 
party of the first part, as agent of the United States Bureau of Education, all and 
every reindeer in his charge, including living fawns born since the date first above 
written, for redistribution. 



76 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IX ALASKA. 

Eightli. Tlie party of the second part further agrees to make an annual report (or 
furnish information to the local superintendent, in order that he may make an annual 
report) of said herd to the general agent of education in Alaska, of all things of inter- 
est pertaining to the herd, and allow any time inspection of the herd by the gen- 
eral superintendent or such other official aa shall be designated by the party of the 
first part. 

Ninth. If this agreement with its conditions and limitations is faithfully complied 
with by the said Okitkoon, party of the second part (his heirs, assigns, or executors) , 
then all and every reindeer in his charge, including living fawns born to the same, 
shall become his private property, to be disposed of as he sees fit, and shall thereafter 
be freed from all the conditions and limitations of the within agreement. 

Signed, sealed, antl delivered in duplicate and in the pre.sence of two witnesses this 

day of , A. D. 190-. 

Sheldon Jackson, [seal.] 

Party of the, first part. 

Okitkoon, [seal.] 

Party of the second part. 

Witness : 

N. F. NiLsoN. 
A. v.. Karlson. 



Exhibit G. 

Agreement between U. S. Bureau of Education and the Mission of Friends at Kotzehue, 

Alaska. 

Know all men by these presents that this agreement, made this Ist day of Sept., 
1902, between Sheldon Jackson, for and in behalf of the U. S. Bureau of Education, 
party of the first part, and I. H. Cammack, supt. of missions for Friends' Church, 
at Kotzebue, and the mission at that place, party of the second part, witnesseth: 

First. That the party of the first part did loan to the party of the second part in 
December, 1901, a herd of reindeer, consisting of 25 males and 70 females, and further 
agrees to pay the salary for five years of an experienced Lapp to teach the native 
boys herding, not to exceed 5 years, and also to furnish said Lapp with clothing and 
rations for the first year. 

Second. The party of the second part agrees at the expiration of 5 years to return 
to the Government a herd of deer corresponding in age, number, and sex to the herd 
received from the party of the first part, at the above date, Dec, 1901, barring 
calamity to the herd. And further agrees to furnish shelter, clothing, and rations to 
the Lapp herder, subject to the agreement contained in condition first. 

Third. The party of the second part agrees to dispose of no female reindeer except 
for the establishment of herds for native herders at the end of their 5 years' 
apprenticeship. 

Fourth. The party of the second part agrees to make an annual report to the gen. 
agt. of education in Alaska of all things of interest pertaining to the herd and allow 
at any time inspection of the herd by the gen. supt. of reindeer or such other official 
as shall be designated by the party of the first part. 

Made and subscribed in duplicate at Los Angeles, Cal., Sept. 1, A. D. 1902. 

Sheldon Jackson, 

Party of the First Part. 
I. H. Cammack, Supt., 
Party of the Second Fart for Kotzebue Mission. 



Exhibit H. 
Agreement between U. S. Bureau of Education and Tatpan. 

Know all men by these presents, that this preliminary agreement (to be replaced in 
1902 by a permanent agreement that shall more accurately define the purposes of 
the within paper), entered into this 1st day of July, A. D.1901, between Sheldon 
Jackson, for and in l)ehalf of the United States Bureau of Education, party of the 
first part, and Tatpan, party of the second part; witnesseth: 

That the United States Bureau of Education, by said Sheldon Jackson, its agent, 
party of the first part, for the purpose of benefiting, elevating, and assisting to 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 77 

self-support the natives of Alaska, hereby continues the loan of the reindeer, with 
their offsprinji, intrusted to said Tatpan, j)arty of the second part, during his appren- 
ticeship, together with such adilitional reindeer as shall make the whole number 
fifty-three, consisting of fifteen males and thirty-five females, but only upon and in 
consideration of the following agreements and limitations: 

First. During the period of seventeen years from the date of this agreement said 
party of the second part (his heirs, assigns, or executors) agree not to sell, exchange, 
give, kill, or in any way dispose of any female deer except to the Government or to 
a native for the purpose of enabling him to engage in the breeding and raising of 
reindeer and for no other purpose whatsoever. Said transfer to a native recpiires the 
written apjiroval in duplicate of the local superintendent within whose district the 
transfer is made. The party receiving said female deer then becomes subject to the 
same conditions and limitations as the party of the second part. 

Second. During the jieriod of seventeen years from the date of this agreement said 
party of the .second part can dispose of male reindeer for the support of his family, 
upon the written ajjproval in duplicate of the local superintendent. 

Third. In the selection of native herders the- party of the second part agrees to 
confer with and act upon the advice of the local superintendent, and in so far as is 
applicable the native herders come under the«same rules and regulations that govern 
the party of the second part. 

Fourtih. The party of the second part further agrees that in the case of his death 
before the expiration of the said seventeen years the herd shall return to the Gov- 
ernment for redistribution to his heirs, provided, in the judgment of the superin- 
tendent and local superintendent, any of the said heirs have the requisite knowledge 
and skill to manage them. 

If none of the said heirs have the requisite knowledge to manage the herd prop- 
erly, but manifest a desire to learn, then the herd shall be kept for them until they 
learn, when the herd with half the increase shall be returned to said heir or heirs, 
the other half of the increase being retained by the Government or mission which 
has had charge of the herd. 

In case there is no heir competent to take charge of the herd, or that cares to learn, 
then the superintendent and local superintendent shall redistribute the herd, making 
as far as po.ssible suitable provision for the widow and children of the deceased and 
for his parents, if dependent upon him for a living. 

Fifth. During the seventeen years of probation each native herder shall be under 
the control of a local mission. 

Sixth. If a disagreement, shall arise between a herder and his local superintendent 
the matter shall be submitted to the general superintendent (or someone selected 
by him to act in his stead) for arbitration, and an appeal can be taken from the 
general superintendent to the United States Commissioner of Education. 
- Seventh. If any of the conditions or agreements above written are violated by said 
party of the second part (his heirs, assigns, or executors), the said Tatpan, party of 
the second part (his heirs, assigns, or executors), shall and W'ill tran.sfer and deliver 
to the United States Government through said Sheldon Jackson, or his successor in 
office, party of the first part, as agent of the United States Bureau of Education, all 
and every reindeer in his charge, including living fawns born since the date first 
above written, for redistribution. 

Eighth. The party of the second part further agrees to make an annual report (or 
furnish information to the local superintendent in order that he may make an annual 
report) of said herd to the general agent of education in Alaska of all things of inter- 
est pertaining to the herd and allow at any time inspection of the herd by the gen- 
eral superintendent or such other official as shall be designated by the party of the 
first part. 

Ninth. If this agreement with its conditions and limitations is faithfully complied 
with by the said Tatpan, party of the second part (his heirs, assigns, or executor), 
then all and every reindeer in his charge, including living fawns born to the same, 
shall become his private property, to be disposed of as he sees fit, and shall there- 
after be freed from all the conditions and limitations of the within agreement. 

Signed, sealed, and delivered in duplicate and in the presence of two witnesses 

this day of , A. D. 190-. 

Sheldon Jackson, 

Party of the First Part. 
Tatpan, 
Party of the Second Part. 

Witnesses: 

F. Goth BERG. 
A. E. KarLvSON. 



78 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

Ex II I HIT I. 

Agreement betiveeii U. S. Bureau of Education and Moravian Misn'unumj Society. 

Know all men by these {)re8ents that this agreement, made this 26th day of February, 
1901, between Francis H. (iainbell, for and in behalf of the U. S. Bureau of Fduca- 
tion, party of the first part, and J. H. Romig, for and in behalf of the Moravian 
Missionary Society, party of the second part, witnesseth: 

First. The party of the first part agrees to loan to the party of the second part a 
herd of one hundred and seventy-six reindeer, described as follows: Males, 89, twenty 
of which are broken to the sled; females, 87. It is further agreed that the party of 
the first part will not hold the party of the second part accountable for more deer 
than were originally received by party of second part. 

Second. That the party of the second part agrees to return, at the expiration of five 
years, a herd of deer corresponding in age, number, and sex to the herd received from 
party of first part on the above date. 

Third. That the party of the second part will prevent the killing of any females of 
the herd and will make an annual report to the general agent of education in Alaska 
of all things of interest pertaining to the herd. 

Francis H. Gambell. [seal.] 
J. H. Romig. [seal.] 



Exhibit J. 



Know all men that this agreement, entered into this 16th day of July, A. D. 1900, 
between Sheldon Jackson, for and in behalf of the United States Bureau of Edu- 
cation, party of the first part, and Dunnuk, an Eskimo, of Teller, Alaska, party of 
tbe second part, witnesseth: 

The United States Bureau of Education, by said Sheldon Jackson, hereby trans- 
fers to said Dunnuk, party of the second part, twenty-five (25) reindeer, being 12 
males and 13 females, and loans to said Dunnuk, party of the second part, twenty- 
five (25) reindeer, being 7 male-! and 18 females, but only upon and in consideration 
of the following agreements and conditions: 

First. During the period of ten (10) years from the date of this agreement said 
Dunnuk, party of the second part (his heirs, assigns, or executors), agree not to sell, 
exchange, give, kill, or in any way dispose of any female reindeer acquired by him 
by this agreement. 

Second. At any time after the expiration of ten (10) years from the date of this 
agreement, said Dunnuk, party of the second part (his heirs, assigns, or executors), 
may transfer to an Eskimo, but to no other person, such female reindeer as he, 
Dunnuk, party of the second part (his heirs, assigns, or executors), may see fit. But 
such transfer shall only be for the purpose of enabling such other Eskimo to engage 
in the breeding or raising of reindeer and for no other purpose whatsoever. And 
such transfer shall be subject to the same conditions as are contained in sections first, 
second, third, fourth, and fifth of this agreement. 

Third. Male reindeer shall not be sold or in any way disposed of by said Dunnuk, 
party of the second part (his heirs, assigns, or executors), except upon the written 
approval and consent of the superintendent of the Teller Mission, said approval and 
consent to be written and signed in duplicate. 

Fourth. At the expiration of five years from the date of this agreement, said Dun- 
nuk, party of the second oart (or his heirs, assigns, or executors), shall and will 
return and deliver to the United States Government at the nearest Government rein- 
deer herd, twenty-five (25) reindeer, being 7 males and 18 females. 

Fifth. If any of' the agreements or coiiditions above written are violated by said 
Dunnuk, party of the second part, (or his heirs, assigns, or executors), shall and will 
transfer and deliver to said Sheldon Jackson, or his successor in office, party of 
the first part, all and every reindeer acquired by him, the said Dunnuk, party of the 
second part, by transfer or, loan by this agreement, including in such transfer and 
delivery all increase or offspring born since the date first above written. 

Signed, sealed, and delivered, in duplicate and in the presence of two witnesses, 
this sixteenth day of July, A. D. 1900. 

Sheldon Jackson, [seal.] 

Party of the First Part. 
DuNNTK, [seal.] 

Party of tlie Second Part. 

Witnesses : 

T. L. Bkevk;, 
Julia Brevig. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA. 79 

District of Alaska, Teller, Alaska, ss: 

On this 16th day of July, A. D. 1900, personally appeared before me, T. L. Brevig, 
Unite<l States commissioner at Teller, in and for the said district of Alaska, Sheldon 
Jackson and Dunnuk, whose names are subscribed to the annexed instrument as 
parties thereto, personally known to me to be the same persons described in and 
whu executed the foregoing instrument and who acknowledged to me that they 
executed the same freely and voluntarily and for the uses and purposes herein 
mentioned. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal at my office 
in Teller, Alaska, the day and year in this certificate first above written. 

ToLLEF L. Brevig, 
U. S. Commissioner of Teller Precinct, District of Alaska. 



Exhibit K. 

Agreement between tlie U. S. Bureau, of Education and Ole Olesen Bahr. 

Know all men by these presents that this agreement entered into this fourth day of 
August, 1902, between Sheldon Jackson for and in behalf of the United States 
Bureau of Education, party of the first part, and Ole Olesen Bahr of the second 
part, wituesseth: 

First. That the United States Bureau of Education, ]iy said Sheldon Jackson, its 
agent, party of the first part, in payment of services hereinafter stated, hereby agrees 
to loan to the party of the second part from year to year as long a.s said party of the 
second part is employed by the party of the first part a hfrd of one hundred (100) 
deer described as follows: Males, 25; females, 75. 

This annual loaning is limited to a total period of five (5) years, and if the party 
of the second part shall cease to beemployed by the party of the first part before the 
expiration of the said five years then the annual loaning of a herd ceases. 

(2) The party of the second part further agrees, at the expiration of the period of 
the loan, to return to the United States Bureau of Education a herd of one hundred 
(100) deer between the ages of two and six years, as far as can be determined, of 
which the proportion of male and female shall correspond with the original loan. 
All the deer over and aljove the one hundred returned to the Oovernment shall 
become the property of the party of the sec(jnd part. 

Third. The party of the second part further agees, during the continuance of the 
above loan, to go to such reindeer stations as the agent of the Bureau of Education may 
direct; herd, break, and care for the reindeer, and train to harness at least one in every 
four males; make and care for sleds, harness, and skees; raise and train for herding 
all the Lapp dogs that are placed under his care, and that shall be born during the 
term of this agreement, said dogs to be the property of the (lOvernment (and shall 
f rfcit a deer for each and every Laj)p pup or dog killed or allowed to be killed 
through the connivance, directly or indirectly, of the j^arty of the second part unless 
the same is sanctioned in writing by the local agent); make fish nets, cat(;h, dry, and 
smoke fish; build log houses or 'sod huts; make journeys when required by the 
superintendent; teach Eskimo men to do all these things; give a willing obedience 
to the rules and regulations made from time to time by the Commissioner of Educa- 
tion, and do any and all such service as may be required by the agent of said Bureau. 

Fourth. The party of the second part further agrees to neither sell, kill, give away, 
nor otherwise dispose of female reindeer during the term of this agreement. 

Fifth. The party of the second part further agrees that during the continuance of 
this agreement he will not keep nor use around the camp or herd intoxicating liquors 
of any kind, and further, that he will not himself, or as far as he can prevent it, allow 
others to offer intoxicating liquors to the herders; and if at any time he finds a herder 
using liquor he will report the same to the local superintendent or agent. 

Sixth. The i>arty of the second part further agrees to waive all legal claim to the 
loan of a herd of reindeer under an agreement entered into with the United States 
War Department on or about the twenty-fourth day of January, 1898. 

Seventh. If an}^ of the conditions or agreements above written are violated by the 
I)arty of the second part, then the party of the first part can, at his discretion, cancel 
this agreement and require the party of the second part to return to him as agent of 
the Bureau of Education one hundred (100) reindeer, in the same proportions as the 
original loan, the said one hundred deer to be selected by the party of the first part. 

Made and subscribed to at Unalaklik, Alaska, this 4th day of August, 1902. 

Sheldon Jackson. [seal.] 

Witnesses: Ole Oleson Bahr. [seal.] 

A. E. Karlson. 
IE J. Hendrickson. 



80 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

EXHUUT L. 

Agreement hetweenOie United Staten Bureau of Education and Per Math'is<in Spein. 

Know all men by these presents that this agreement, entered into this fourth day of 

August, 1902, between Sheldon Jackson, for and in behalf of the United States 

Bureau of Education, party of the first part, and Per Mathisen Spein, party of the 

second part, witnesseth: 

First. That the United States Bureau of Education, by said Sheldon Jackson, its 
agent, jxirty of the first part, in payment of services hereinafter stated, hereby agrees 
to loan to the party of the second part from year to year, as long as said party of the 
second part is employed by the party of the first part, a herd of one hundred (100) 
deer, described as follows: Males, 25; females, 75. 

This annual loaning is limited to a total period of five (5) years, and if the party 
of the second part shall cease to be employed by the party of the first part before 
the expiration of the said five years the annual loaning of a herd ceases. 

(2) The jmrty of the second part further agrees at the expiration of tfie period of 
the loan to return to the United States Bureau of Education a herd of one hundred 
( 100) deer l)etween the ages of two and six years, as far as can be determined, of which 
the proportion of male and female shall correspond with the original loan. All the 
deer over and above the one hundred returned to the Government shall become the 
property of the party of the second part. 

Third. The party of the second part further agrees during the continuance of the 
above loan to go to such reindeer stations as the agent of the Bureau of Education 
may direct; herd, break, and care for the reindeer, and train to harness at least one 
in every four males; make and care for sleds, harness, and skees; raise and train for 
herding all the Lapp dogs that are placed under his care and that shall be born dur- 
ing the term of this agreement, said dogs to be the property of the Government (and 
shall forfeit a deer for each and every Lapp pup or dog killed or allowed to be killed 
through the connivance, directly or indirectly, of the party of the second part unless 
the same is sanctioned in writing by the local agent ) ; make fish nets, catch, dry, and 
smoke fish; build log houses or sod huts; make journeys when required by the super- 
intendent; teach Eskimo men to do all these things; give a willing obedience to the 
rules and regulations made from time to time by the Commissioner of Education, and 
do any and all such service as may be required by the agent of said Bureau. 

Fourth. The party of the second part further agrees to neither sell, kill, give away, 
nor otherwise dispose of female reindeer during the term of this agreement. 

Fifth. The party of the second part further agrees that during the continuance of 
this agreement that he will not keep nor use around the camp or herd intoxicating 
hquors of any kind, and, further, that he will not himself or, as far as he can prevent 
it, allow others to offer intoxicating liquors to the herders, and if at any time he finds 
a herder using liquor he will report the same to the local superintendent or agent. 

Sixth. The party of the second part further agrees to waive all legal claim to the 
loan of a herd of reindeer under an agreement entered into with the United States 
War Department on or about the twenty-fourth day of January, 1898. 

Seventh. If any of the conditions or agreements above written are violated by the 
party of the second jjart, then the party of the first part can, at his discretion, cancel 
this "agreement and require the party of the second part to return to him as agent of 
the Bureau of Education one hundred (100) reindeer in the same proportions as the 
original loan, the said one hundred deer to be selected by the party of the first part. 

Made and subscribed to at Unalaklik, Alaska, this 4th day of August, 1902. 

Sheldon Jackson. [se.\l.] 
Per Mathisen Spein. [seal.] 

Witnesses: 

A. E. Karlson. 

H. J. Hendrickson. 



Exhibit M. 

Agreement between the U. S. Bureau of Education and Alls Sara. 

Know all men by these presents that this agreement, entered into this 4th day of 
August, 1902, between Sheldon Jackson, for and in behalf of the United States 
Bureau of Education, party of the first part, and Nils Sara, party of the second 
part, witnesseth: 

First. That the United States Bureau of Education, by said Sheldon Jackson, its 
agent, jmrty of the first part, in payment of services hereinafter stated, hereby agrees 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA. 81 

to loan to the party of the second part, from year to year, as long as said party of the 
second part is employed by the party of the first part, a herd of one hundred (100) 
deer, described as follows: Males, 25; females, 75. 

This annual loaning is limited to a total period of five (5) years, and if the party 
of the second part shall cease to be employed by the party of the first part before the 
expiration of the said five years, then the annual loaning of the herd ceases. 

(2) The party of the second part further agrees at the expiration of the period of 
the loan to return to the United States Bureau of Education a herd of one hundred 
(100) deer between the ages of two and six years, as far as can be determined, of 
which the proportion of male and female shall correspond with the original loan. 
All the deer over and above the one hundred returned to the Government shall 
become the property of the party of the second part. 

Third. The party of the second part further agrees, during the continuance of the 
above loan, to go to such reindeer stations as the agent of the Bureau of Education 
may direct; herd, break, and care for the reindeer, and train to harness at least one 
in every four males; make and care for sleds, harness, and skees; raise and train for 
herding all the Lapp dogs that are placed under his care or that shall be born during 
the term of this agreement, said dogs to be the property of the Government (and 
shall forfeit a deer for each and every Lapp dog or pup killed or allowed to be killed 
through the connivance, directly or indirectly, of the party of the second part, unless 
the same is sanctioned in writing by the local agent); make fish nets; catch, dry, 
and smoke fish; build log houses or sod huts; make journeys when required by the 
superintendent; teach Eskimo men to do all these things; give a willing obedience to 
the rules and regulations made from time to time by the Commissioner of Education, 
and do any and all such service as may be required by the agent of said Bureau. 

Fourth. The party of the second part further agrees to neither sell, kill, give away, 
nor otherwise dispose of female reindeer during the term of this agreement. 

Fifth. The party of the second part further agrees that during the continuance of 
this agreement that he will not keep nor use around the camp or herd intoxicating 
liquors of any kind; and, further, that he will not himself or, as far as he can prevent 
it, allow others to offer intoxicating liquors to the herders, and if at any time he finds 
a herder using liquor he will report the same to the local superintendent or agent. 

Sixth. The party of the second part further agrees to waive all legal claim to the 
loan of a herd of reindeer under an agreement entered into with the United States 
War Department on or about the twenty-fourth day of January, 189.S. 

Seventh. If any of the conditions or agreements above written are violated by the 
party of the second part, then the party of the first part can at his discretion cancel 
this agreement and require the party of the second part to return to him as agent of 
tlie Bureau of Education one hundred (100) reindeer in the same proportion as the 
original loan, the said one hundred deer to be selected by the party of the first part. 

Made and subscribed to at Unalaklik, Alaska, this 4th day of August, 1902. 

Sheldon .Jackson, [seal.] 
Nils Sara. [seal.] 

Witnesses: 

H. E. Karlson. 
K. J. Hendrickson. 



Exhibit N. 

Agreement between the U. S. Bureau of Bducation and Alfred S. Nilima. 

Know all men by these presents, that this agreement, entered into this day of 

July, 1902, between Sheldon Jackson, for and in behalf of the United States Bureau 
of Education, party of the first part, and Alfred S. Nilima, party of the second part, 
witnesseth: 

First. That the United States Bureau of Education, by said Sheldon Jackson, its 
agent, party of the first part, in payment of services hereinafter stated, hereby agrees 
to loan to the party of the second part from year to year, as long as said party of the 
second part is employed by the party of the first part, a herd of one hundred (100) 
deer described as follows: Males, 25; females, 75. 

This annual loaning is limited to a total period of five (5) years from September 
1st, 1901, and if the party of the second part shall cease to be employed by the party 
of the first part before the expiration of the said five years then the annual loaning 
of the herd ceases. 

S. Doc. 483, 59-1 6 



82 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA. 

(2) The party of the seconci part further agrees at tlie expiration of the period of 
the loan to return to the United States Bureau of Education a herd of one hundred 
(100) deer between the ages of two and six years, as far as can he determined, of 
which the proportion of male and female shall correspond with the original loan. 
All the deer over and above the one hundred returned to the Government shall 
become the property of the party, of the second part. 

Third. The party of the second part further agrees during the continuance of the 
above loan to go to such reindeer stations as the agent of the Bureau of Education 
may direct, herd, break, and care for the reindeer and train to harness at least one 
in every four males; make and care for sleds, harness, and skees; raise and train for 
herding all the Lapp dogs that are placed under his care or that shall be born during 
the term of this agreement, said dogs to be the property of the Government (and 
shall forfeit a deer for each and every Lapp pup or dog killed or allowed to be killed 
through the connivance, directly or indirectly, of the party of the second part, unless 
the same is sanctioned in writing by the local agent) ; make fish nets, catch, dry, and 
smoke fish; build log houses or sod huts; make journeys when recjuired by the super- 
intendent; teach Eskimo men to do all these things; give a willing obedience to the 
rules and regulations made from time to time by the Commissioner of Education, and 
do any and all such service as may be recpiired by the agent of said Bureau. 

Fourth. The party of the second part further agrees to neither sell, kill, giveaway, 
nor otherwise dispose of female reindeer during the term of this agreement. 

Fifth. The party of the second part further agrees that during the continuance of 
this agreement that he will not keep nor use around the camp or herd intoxicating 
liquors of any kind, and further that he will not himself, or as far as he can prevent 
it, allow others to offer intoxicating liquors to the herders, and if at any time he finds 
a herder using liquor he will report the same to the local superintendent or agent. 

Sixth. The party of the second part further agrees to waive all legal claim to the 
loan of a herd of reindeer under an agreement entered into with the United States 
War Department on or about the twenty-fourth day of January, 1898. 

Seventh. If any of the conditions or agreements above written are violated by the 
party of the second part, then the party of the first part can at his discretion cancel 
this agreement and require the party of the second part to return to him as agent of 
the Bureau of Education one hundred (100) reindeer in the same proportions as the 
original loan, the said one hundred (100) deer to be selected by the party of the first 
part. 

Made and subscribed to at Kotzebue, Alaska, this day of July, 1902. 

Sheldon Jackson, [seal.] 
Alfred Nilima. [seal.] 
Witnesses: 

Dana Thomas. 
Otha Thomas. 



Exhibit 0. 

Agreement between the U. S. Bureau of Education and . 

Know all men by these presents that this agreement entered into this 4th day of 

August, 1902, between Sheldon Jackson of the first part, and Nils Klemetsen, party 

of the second part, witnesseth: 

First. That the United States Bureau of Education, by said Sheldon Jackson, its 
agent, party of the first part, in payment of services hereinafter stated, hereby agrees 
to loan to the party of the second part, from year to year, as long as said party of the 
second part is employed by the party of the first part, a herd of one hundred (100) 
deer described as follows: Males, 25; females, 75. 

This annual loaning is limited to a total of five (5) years, and if the party of the 
second part shall cease to be employed by the party of the first part before the expi- 
ration of the said five years then the annual loaning of the herd ceases. 

(2) The party of the second part further agrees at the expiration of the period of 
the loan to return to the United States Bureau of Education a herd of one hundred 
(100) deer between the ages of two and six years, as far as can be determined, of 
which the proportion of male and female shall correspond with the original loan. 
All the deer over and above the one hundred returned to the Government shall 
become the property of the party of the second part. 

Third. The party of the second part further agrees, during the continuance of the 
above loan, to go to such reindeer stations as the agent of the Bureau of Education 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 83 

may direct; herd, break, and care for the reindeer and train to harness at least one 
in every four males; make and care for sleds, harness, and skees; raise and train for 
herding all the Lapp dogs that are placed under his care or that shall be born during 
the term of this agreement, said dogs to be the property of the Government (and 
shall forfeit a deer for each and every Lapp pup or dog killed or allowed to be killed 
through the connivance, directly or indirectly, of the party of the second part, unless 
the same is sanctioned in writing by the local agent); make fish nets, catch, dry, 
and smoke fish; build log houses or sod huts; make journeys when required by the 
superintendent; teach Eskimo men to do all these things, give a willing obedience 
to the rules and regulations made from time to time by the Commissioner of Educa- 
tion, and do any and all such service as may be required by the agent of said Bureau. 

Fourth. The party of the second part further agrees to neither sell, kill, give away, 
nor otherwise dispose of female reindeer during the term of this agreement. 

Fifth. The party of the second part further agrees that during the continuance of 
this agreement that he will not keep nor use around the camp or herd intoxicating 
liquors of any kind, and, further, that he will not himself or, as far as he can prevent 
it, allow others to offer intoxicating liquors to the herders; and if at any time he finds 
a herder using liquor he will i-eport the same to the local superintendent or agent. 

Sixth. The party of the second part further agrees to waive all legal claim to the 
loan of a herd of reindeer under an agreement entered into with the United States 
War Department on or about the twenty-fourth day of January, 1898. 

Seventh. If any of the conditions or agreements above written are violated by the 
party of the .second part, then the party of the first part can at his discretion cancel 
this agreement and require the party of the second part to return to him, as agent of 
the Bureau of Education, one hundred (100) reindeer in the same proportions as the 
original loan; the said one hundred (100) deer to be selected by the party of the first 
part. 

Made and subscribed to at Unalaklik, Alaska, this 4th day of August, 1902. 

Sheldon Jackson, [seal.] 
Nils Klemetsen. [seal.] 

Witnesses: 

A. E. Karlson, 
K. J. Hendrickson. 



Exhibit P. 

Agreement between United States Bureau of Education and the Roman Catholic Missions in 

Alaska. 

Know all men by these presents that this agreement, made this first day of January, 
1901, between Francis H. Gambell, for and in behalf of the United States Bureau 
of Education, party of the first part, and L. Van Gorp, S. J., for and in behalf of 
the Roman Catholic Missions in Alaska, witnesseth: 

First. That the party of the first part agrees to loan to the party of the second 
part a herd of one hundred reindeer, described as follows: Males 50, females 50, ten 
of which are broken to the sled, and further agrees to pay the salary of an experi- 
enced Lapp to teach the native boys herding for a period not to exceed five ji-ears. 

Second. That the party of the second part agrees, at the expiration of five years, to 
return to the Government a herd of deer corresponding in age, number, and sex to 
the herd received from the party of the first part at the above date, and further 
agrees to furnish shelter, clothing, and rations to the Lapp herder and his family. 

Third. The party of the second part agrees to dispose of no female reindeer except 
such as are necessary for the compensation of native herders and for the establish- 
ment of herds for native herders at the end of their five years' apprenticeship. 

Fourth. The party of the second part agrees to make an annual report to the gen- 
eral agent of education in Alaska of all things of interest pertaining to the herd, 
and allow at anj- time inspection of the herd by the general superintendent of rein- 
deer, or such other official as shall be designated by the party of the first part. 

Made and subscribed (in duplicate) at St. Michael, Alaska, this day 

of , A. D. 1901. 



Parly of the fir nt part. 



Party of the second part. 



84 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

Exhibit Q. 

Teller, Alaska, September 12, 1905. 
My Dear Mr. Churchill: Inclosed please find copy of letter to Doctor Jackson. 
Thought the subject might be of interest to you. I have just had a preliminary chat 
with Reverend Brevig, who is in charge of the mission at the old reindeer station 
here, and he informs me that when his mission got their hundred deer from Doctor 
Jackson no contract was made, and he does not remember the age of the deer loaned, 
but says 75 were females and 25 males. I will mark them to-morrow. 
I hope to leave Nome for the outside al)out the 20th instant. 
With kind regards to Mrs. Churchill, 
I am, very truly, yours, 

W. T. Lopp. 
Thanks for the blue-prints. 



Wales, Alaska, Septemher 8, 1905. 
Dr. Sheldon Jackson, 

General Agent of Education in Alaska, Washington, D. C. 

Dear Sir: Yours of August 10 is at hand. In reply, I beg to inform you that Mr. 
Brower purchased the female deer (mission or Government) before my arrival there 
last year. I understood from Doctor Marsh that the sale had been authorized by the 
Bureau. While there (1904) Mr. Brower asked with regard to leasing herd of deer 
on the same terms they were leased to missions, saying that he was willing to obli- 
gate himself to support and train a certain number of deer annually at the end of 
their apprenticeship. I informed him that I was not authorized to make loans and 
suggested that he make his proposition to the Bureau. I have no recollection of 
Mr. Brower asking to purchase female deer or suggesting that he write to Dr. Har- 
ris with regard to the purchase of female deer. These were the circumstances as I 
recall them. If any action in the matter was an official indiscretion I stand corrected. 

I note what you say in regard to the illegality of one native herder selling female 
deer to another native herder or native. But what recourse has the Bureau, if it so 
desires, to prevent such sales? Some of the missions and independent native herders 
have come into the possession of deer without even signing an agreement or contract 
with the Bureau to be governed by its rules and regulations. I shall write you more 
at length on this subject later. 

I am sorry that it was necessary for me to hire sled deer in making my tour of 
inspection, but this year it was unavoidable. When I entered this district there was 
not a Government sled deer in it, unless at Barrow or Gambell. and no steers for 
sled deer. At present the Government has seven steers in the Wales herd, but no 
Government herder there to break them. The herders there spend their extra time 
breaking their own deer. The Government should have some good sled deer in each 
herd. I have just returned from the Wales herd on Mint River where I had the 
Government fawns marked. 



Exhibit R. 

Extract from Senate Document No. 137, Fifty-fifth Congress, second session (j?j. 91). 

W. C. POND, SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 



1891. 
Aug. 12 



Aug. 12 
Sept. 4 



For transportation of .school- 
house for St. Lawrence 
Island 

For2l2%'j"5 tons coal for school, 
St. Lawrence Island, sacks 
for same, and freight 
charges 

For stove for Government 
school on St. Lawrence 
Island, Alaska 



8300. 00 


1891. 
Aug. 12 
Aug. 12 
Sept. 4 


359.85 




33.00 




692. 85 



By voucher 

do 

do 



8300.00 

359. 85 

33.00 



692. 85 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 85 

Exhibit S. 

Wales, Alaska, August 11, 1905. 

My Dear Doctor: I have just returned from the northern cruise and find yours 
of June 20, 21, 22 awaiting me; also the telegram asking for the number of fawns. 
But, as this information was wired from Teller by Doctor Hamilton, it is unnecessary 
for me to repeat it. 

The lumber and supplies for Shishmaref have been landed and cared for. Had I 
known before going north that I was expected to look for a carpenter, the buildings 
at Shishmaref would be well under way by this time. I kept three carpenters in 
the Kotzebue region waiting my reply all May, June, and July. The wires were 
down when I was in Nome, so I could not communicate with you. One of the naen 
I had in mind has a job in Nome now at 75 cents per hour. The second is working 
on a creek near Deering, and the third we sent to Corwin Lagoon. I may be able 
to get the Deering man for Shishmaref. Mr. Hamilton has, no doubt, already writ- 
ten you that he has arranged with Mr. Olsen to remain and finish the Point Hope 
house after the Deering house is done. As I understand your letter, there will be no 
available funds to keep Olsen all winter, so I will discharge him as soon as we have 
reached the $500 limit on the Deering and Shishmaref houses. 

When a teacher is sent to Point Hope next year, he can get skilled 'help at that 
place to assist him in finishing the inside of that house. 

I hope there will be suflicient funds to employ a teacher at Shishmaref. It would 
be a very difficult position for a native teacher to fill, especially the first year. I 
am now corresponding with a young man in Nome who finished the Quartz Creek 
school last spring. His mother is very much interested in the work among the 
natives, and I think she would be willing to go to Shishmaref with her son. I shall 
wire in regard to this in a few days. 

I hardly see how it is possible to locate the new herds you speak of this coming 
winter. No preparations have been made for such moves in the way of distributing 
supplies to those isolated places on the coast. It costs considerable to move and 
establish new herds. As the appropriation was insufficient to meet the expenses 
incurred in the three movements of herds in this district last winter, the deficiency 
this winter would be probably greater because of the smaller appropriation. 

I am still of the opinion that relays of sled deer, sufficient to make the service with 
deer from Barrow to Kotzebue a success, could be arranged for along the line for less 
than the contract price ($1,500). Two relays between the Kivalena and Wainwright 
would sutfice, or even one. I am glad you Avrote to Mr. Spriggs as you did. Thia 
last winter he had the herders carry the" mail with dogs. It was reported that these 
two herders each received 10 sacks of flour per trip. I can hardly agree with you, 
however, that the Government can control any of the deer in the Kotzebue herd 
for mail-contract purposes, as such contingencies are not provided for in their contracts. 

I would prefer not to bid on any contracts, but if I find I can not get the power 
of attorney of the herders on the different routes which you mentioned, I will send 
you my own power of attorney. If I get any of these contracts in my name, and 
should" continue to occupy the position I now hold, I should divide the entire amount 
among the deer men who furnish the deer and did the work. I think Eskimo deer 
men can bid on these accounts. When in Nome recently I had a bond filled for 
Sarilook, and left it at Teller for him to l)id on the contract from Teller to Wales. 
If he gets it, he and the herders who furnish the sled deer will get all there is in it, 
and they will need it to make a success of it. As soon as I can get to notary public, 
I will send you powers of attorney of both myself and herders, also estimates on the 
different routes. But if the Post-Oflice Department will accept the bids of herders, 
I would much prefer that they get the contracts in their own names. 

The Bellingham harness were an improvement on the old harness, but w'e are 
hardly satisfied with the shape of the collar. After we get a collar that is the 
right shape, probably the herders can use it for a pattern in the manufacturing of 
collars from their own leather. But I think it more economical to have these made 
in tiie States. 

After thinking the matter over, I hardly think it advisable to put Thomas Illayok 
or any other native alone at Shishmaref. " We once started a little mission school at 
!\Iitle"tokevik, with Sokweena as teacher, but he soon drifted back to their way of 
doing things. 

I shall follow your instructions with regard to Larsen, Donnuk, Sekeoglook's pay 
for the trip to Eaton, unless I hear something from you to the contrary next month. 

I note what you say in regard to loaning deer to Hatta and Larsen. But Doctor 
Hamilton and Mr. Churchill have informed me that no herds would be loaned pend- 



86 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

ing the investigation. Ilatta is mining on one of his claims on Bear Creek, a tribu- 
tary of the Buckland River, 40 or 50 miles inland from Candle. Larsen was at 
Teller in July v^^aiting for his pay for his trip to Eaton. I think they would both be 
willing to take the temperance pledge for the sake of a herd. I doubt if Hatta would 
be willing to go to Cape Lisburn region with a herd, or Larsen to the Yukon or 
Tanana. 

We had a very pleasant cruise north. I was sorry that Mr. Churchill was not able 
to see more of the herds and herders. But I think he got a good general idea of the 
reindeer industry and appreciates the disadvantages and difficulties encountered in 
the work. 

The generous supply of official paper, envelopes, blanks, and ear marks have been 
received. Thanks. 

The biographical sketch of the herders goes this mail. 
Very truly, yours, 

W. T. Lopp. 

Dr. Sheldon Jackson, 

General Agent of Education in Alaska, Washington, D. C, 



)Mtiiam5 tfiito^. Oct /904- 



S Doc .^-0. 59 1 



EXHIBIT "T" 




S Doc v:/^ 59 1 



FIRST SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT. 

Department of the Interior, 

Washington., D. C.^ January 10^ 1906. 
Sir: In compliance with my letter of December 11, 1905, transmitting 
my report on Alaskan affairs, assigned to me in your instructions of 
June 3, 1905, wherein I informed you that a supplemental report 
would be submitted for your consideration, I beg leave to present the 
following: 

ST. LAWRENCE ISLAND (gAMBELL). 

On July 21, 1905, I submitted a preliminary report, calling your 
attention to the fact that I had found TO reindeer loaned to a mission 
at St. Lawrence Island which did not exist. Following that report, 
70 deer were transferred to the credit of the United States, as set forth 
in my report of December 11, 1905, but the increase of the herd for 
five years past, excepting the small number owned by native appren- 
tices or herders, according to the understanding of the superintendent, 
still remain the property of the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, • 
Under date of December 18, 1905, you did me the honor to refer to 
me a communication from the honorable Commissioner of Education, 
explaining that notwithstanding the annual reports of his Bureau had 
for five years stated that a loan of deer had been made there to an 
imaginary mission, no such loan was ever made. I present his letter 
below: 

Department of the Interior, 

Bureau of Education, 
Washington, D. C, September 13, 1905. 

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt, by your reference, of the pre- 
liminary report of Mr. Frank C. Churchill, special agent, herewith returned, calling 
attention to the loan of 70 deer to Presbyterian mission at St. Lawrence Island for 
five years, and to the supposed fact that the deer are not yet returned to the 
Government. 

Further calls attention to the fact that all of the employees on the island are Gov- 
ernment employees and that the buildings for school purposes were erected at the 
expense of the Government. 

He (luestions the possibility of the Government's loaning a herd to its own 
employees. 

I have asked Doctor Jackson to examine the preliminary report carefully and 
write for me an explanation of the business items discussed by Mr. Churchill in his 
report. I inclose Doctor Jackson's letter, which explains that there has been in fact 
no such loan to the Presbyterian mission as was set down in the printed report of 
the Government. 

The error lies in the printed report and not in the actual business arrangements at 
St. Lawrence Island. A loan had been projected from the beginning, but could not 
be ciirried out because of the failure of the Presbyterian Missionary Association to 
establish a mission on St. Lawrence Island in a building which they have had in 
their possession since 1892, consequently the loan of the reindeer has never been 

87 



88 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA, 

consummated, although it has been supposed from year to year that the Pres^byterian 
mission would shortly be established there and that the loan would be completed; 
therefore the reindeer to the number of 191, as reported by Mr. Hamilton to this 
office in August of this year, are entirely in the possession of the Government, 
excepting 36 deer, which have been given to the apprentices imder the rules for 
remunerating efficient service on the part of the apprentices. 

I have been at some pains to ascertain the cause of the error in the table furnished 
by the Alaskan division with regard to the ownership of the deer, the same report- 
ing a loan which was never made. 

In the year 1900 a herd of 70 reindeer was placed upon the island by this Office, 
and the first printed report that names this herd of reindeer is that for 1900 (p. 17), 
( the report of the United States agent of education in Alaska annually called for by 
the United States Senate) wherein it mentions the forming of a station which was 
named the Gambell station, in honor of a valued teacher at the Government school 
at that point who had lost his life the previous year, being wrecked as he was return- 
i ng with his family from a vacation in the States to his post on St. Lawrence Island. 

In the report for 1900 (p. 22) "the Presbyterian mission at Gambell, St. Lawrence 
Island," is accredited with 70 deer in the table on "Number, distribution, and own- 
ership of domestic reindeer in Alaska for 1900." 

In the annual reports for 1901, 1902, 1903, and 1904 the tables under the heading 
"Number, distribution, and ownership of reindeer in Alaska," repeat the information 
that the herd of 70 is loaned to the Presbyterian mission, July 30, 1900, to be returned 
in July, 1905. 

In making up the table of the stations and Government ownership it seems that 
the expectation of the first year was that the Presbyterian Missionary Association 
would establish a mission on the isla'nd and take the loan which was offered it, and it 
was not then known that the mission board would fail to complete the contract, and 
the tables of the subsequent years blindly repeated the mistake. 

Mr. Hamilton, who compiled the tables for these years, is at present absent in 
Alaska and I think can explain more fully the cause of the error. 

Although the error is mortifying, yet it has not worked any defect or injustice to 
the Government's claim, inasmuch as the loan has never been completed by the 
acceptance of the Presbyterian missionary board and its performance of its part of 
the contract. 

Very respectfullv, your obedient servant, 

W. T. Harris, 

('o)mni.ssio)ier. 

In view of the statements of the honorable Commissioner, it would 
seem that the least that the Bureau can do is to see to it that the deer 
at St. Lawrence Island are all placed to the credit of the United States. 
It is to be regretted that by way of explaining away the "blindly 
repeated" error, so much as an insinuation should be made that 
an absent clerk should be held responsible for it. The word "con- 
tract" is referred to, and 1 suggest that a copy of that contract be 
called for. The statement that no defect or injustice has been done 
the Government is questioned, as it has not 3'^et been stated just how 
long it was proposed to raise reindeer on St. Lawrence Island for the 
imaginary mission at that place. This leads up to further comment 
as to who owns the school building and teachers' dwelling there. The 
officers of the revenue cutter upon which I was a passenger informed 
me that the labor employed in their construction was by men paid by 
the Government, but the information ma}' have been erroneous. If 
this labor was not done by men from a revenue cutter on some one 
of the many cruises it would be hard to imagine how it could have 
been accomplished. M}' main report contains all that 1 was able to 
learn as to the ownership of the buildings up to that date. Since the 
report was submitted the following letter has been received from the 
Presbyterian Board of Home Missions showing that that body claims 
the schoolbouse and dwelling there by virtue of having paid Rev. 
Sheldon Jackson, D. D., the sum of $2,000 on or about May 4, 1893. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA, 89 

[The Board of Home Missions of tlie Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, 156 Fifth 

avenue.] 

New York, December 6, 1905. 

Dear Sir: Yours of the 1st instant making further inquires with regard to St. 
Lawrence Island expenditure for building purposes is at hand. In reply thereto I 
beg to say that, as I said to you in my previous letter, the voucher and tiling system 
of these offices at the date of this expenditure were such that it is impossible now to 
get hold of the original voucher. I have before me, however, the check upon which 
this payment of $2,000 was made, and upon which the indorsement is made across 
the face thereof for "St. Lawrence Island building." The check is payable to Rev. 
Sheldon Jackson, D. D., and was no doubt to reimburse him for amounts paid out 
for the building at St. Lawrence Island. Indeed, our correspondnce book bears out 
the truth of this statement. A letter dated May 4, 1893 (the date of the check above 
named), says: "I have the pleasure of inclosing check for $2,000 on the Merchants' 
National Bank of this city to your order. I think perhaps it would be well for you 
to secure a quitclaim deed from the Reformed Episcopal people; that will be a little 
better for us, though the title of this property will probably never be called into 
question." 

A letter from Doctor Jackson, dated May 6, inclosed a check for $1,000, being the 
gift of one of the friends of missions in Pittsburg toward the purchase of this same 
property, which is designated in that letter of inclosure as "the building of the Re- 
formed Episcopal Society located on St. Lawrence Island." 
Very truly, yours, 

H. C. Olin, Treasurer. 

Frank C. Churchill, Esq., 

Special Agfiit, Lebanon, N. II. 

Summed up, we find that the United States, the Reformed Episcopal 
Societ3% Mrs. William Thaw, Mrs. Elliott F. Shepard, the Presby- 
terian board, and ''one of the friends of missions in Pittsburg" have 
contributed for the St. Lawrence Island buildings. It is assumed that 
the ^2,000 paid into the hands of Doctor Jackson by the Presbyterian 
board was by him turned over to the Episcopal board. 

C;!oncerning the survey of land on the island claimed by the Presby- 
terian board, it has been suggested that it can be done by an officer of 
the Revenue-Cutter Service. The cutters are not subject to orders 
from the Interior Department, and my understanding is that before a 
survey can be approved by the General Land Office the surveyor must 
first qualify before that Office. I repeat that I know of no adverse 
claims to church lands sought by the Presbyterian board, although 
there was some controversy over their claim at Haines, as the War 
Department established a post which at one time was supposed to 
encroach upon the Presbyterians' claim, but this matter has, as I am 
informed, been satisfactorily adjusted. 

If it can be arranged to pay back to the Presbyterian board the 
$2,000 which they placed in Doctor Jackson's hands, and thereby obtain 
a title to the school buildings, it will be the simplest route to a settle- 
ment. No titles to land should be given on St. Lawrence Island. .The 
President set it aside as a reindeer reserve, and so it should remain. I 
suggest that it will appear plain that the mixing up of titles to prop- 
erty in which the Government has an equity should be avoided. 

BETTLES. 

Since filing mj^ general report, which included remarks on matters 
at a place called Bettles, Mr. Cram, who was in charge there for a few 
months, has placed in mj- hands a somewhat voluminous document, 
which, he informed me, was a copy of a report recently prepared by 
him covering his service at Bettles. 



90 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC.^ IN ALASKA. 

The report is addressed to the honorable Commissioner of Educa- 
tion, and is forwarded herewith, marked Exhibit A A. From its con- 
tents I infer that some of Mr, Cram's claims are not altogether without 
foundation, but it is evident that some of them at least have come 
from his having accepted a position under the Bureau without first 
acquiring definite information as to conditions to be met in Alaska, 
especially as to the hardships attending the work. He censures his 
superiors for failing to accomplish things promptly that were not pos- 
sible at the time. It is quite evident that Mr. Cram did not realize to 
what extent he was expected to depend upon himself to look after sup- 
plies, etc. As previousl}" stated, Mr. Cram was placed in a very diffi- 
cult field. The employment of both Mr. Cram and his wife at salaries 
of $1,000 a year each was rather unusual in the Alaska service, and 
when the school was discontinued they were paid for the fractional 
part of a year at the rate of $1,000 a year, while Mr. Cram contends 
that they should receive pay at the rate of $1,000 for the school year 
of nine months. 

This appears to be a case where these people accepted emplojniient 
without full understanding of what was expected of them, they going 
into that desolate country without experience, assuming that everything 
necessar}^ for their comfort would be provided for them. 

It is plain that the matter of wages is purel}^ a question of contract, 
which the Bureau had an undoubted right to make. 

REINDEER. 

My attention has been called to an article which appeared in the 
Washington Times, December 7, 1905, which purports to be a synop- 
sis of an address b}' Rev. Sheldon Jackson, D. D., before the Anthro- 
pological Society of Washington, D. C. 

Doctor Jackson is quoted as saying that reindeer in Alaska double 
in numbers every year. Whether or not such a statement was made I 
am unable to report, but the annual reports of the Bureau of Education 
do not show such rapid increase. The report for 1905 says: "As a 
safe rule, any three consecutive years doubles the size of the herd;" the 
same calculation is also found in the report for 1904. The newspaper 
clipping referred to is inclosed herewith and marked "Exhibit B B," 
as it contains another very remarkable statement, to the effect that 
the reindeer in Alaska have descended from 160 head procured with 
$2,000 contributed by certain charitable persons. The Bureau's 
reports admit that 1,280 deer have been imported into Alaska, also 
that Congress has appropriated $222,500 to pay the expenses, and the 
question very naturally arises, as to the increase from the other 1,120 
deer. 

If Doctor Jackson's statement concerning the natural increase can 
be taken as reliable, his 160 deer would have increased in 1904 to the 
enormous size of 655,360, or take the Bureau's report as correct, that 
they double ever}^ three years, then the 160 head would in 1904 num- 
ber 2,560, or one-fourth of the entire number in Alaska to-day. Due 
credit has been given to the contributors of the mone\^ to pay for the 
first deer imported. Is it more than fair to insist that the $250,000 pro- 
vided by Congress to develop the reindeer business has beeji, and still 
is, the key to the whole question ^ I can not believe the general agent 
of education in Alaska ever made such statements as are found in the 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 91 

article, but inasmuch as the same has been widely commented upon, 
and accepted as correct, an erroneous impression has gone out. The 
reindeer industry needs no bolstering- up: it is a good thing for Alaska, 
and if wiyel}' managed it will be found to be a good thing for the 
country, as through the building up of the business the natives can 
make themselves self -supporting, besides having always at hand a food 
supply for such people as chance to find themselves stranded upon 
Alaska's inhospitable shores. 

The newspaper article states that there are now over twenty-five big 
reindeer ranches in Alaska, etc. This is not correct; there only a little 
more than half that number of stations, as shown b}" the Bureau's 
reports, and with a strong conviction that Doctor Jackson has been 
misquoted I drop the subject, as my general report enumerates all the 
stations of which we have any knowledge. 

Mr. F. Kleinschmidt, a son-in-law oK Rev. S. Hall Young, one of 
the early Presbyterian missionaries in Alaska, has recently addressed 
to me a very interesting communication, in which he gives expression 
to his views as to what should be done for the Eskimo. 

The letter is interesting, and I therefore introduce it as an exhibit 
marked "CC." His remarks upon a system of preserving the Eskimo's 
food supply in days of plenty are considered excellent. 

Of course carrving into effect impiovements of this character are 
purel}' matters of administration. Many things inexpensive in them- 
selves can be done to assist the natives, when their affairs are put under 
a competent local supervisior. Reindeer herds do not constitute all that 
can be profitably put into the hands of the natives, as helps to catch 
fish and other products of the sea, upon which they will always rel}'^ 
for a great part of their food, should l)e looked after. Instruction in 
building their huts in the right places to secure the best sanitary con- 
ditions possible would aid these people very much. Instruction in 
modern methods of trapping ffsh and hundreds of other things small 
in cost could be done ]\y active and intelligent Government emplo3'ees 
on the ground. 

1 have the honor to be, very respectfully, 

Frank C. Chukchill, 

Special Agent. 

Hon. E. A. HiTcm^ocK, 

Secretary of the Interior., Washiixjtoii., D. C. 



Exhibit AA. 
report of the united states government reindeer station at settles, alaska. 

Sir: I have the honor to submit herewith the report of the Bettles, Alaska, rein- 
deer station from the time when the deer were received at the station, December .31, 
1904, to September 3, 1905, the date on which I left Bettles for the States. This 
report also contains information relating to the school building at Bettles. 

1 desire to state that on account of continuous traveling since last July it has been 
impossible to make out this report earlier, thus accounting for its delay. 

llie arriral of the deer.— The herd for this station arrived at Bettles on December 
31, 1904. It had been driven from Unalakleet to Bettles, a distance of nearly 600 
miles, in something like tifty'-three days. 

On the night of their arrival at Bettles they had been on the trail some thirty-five 
or forty hours without pitching camp, and during that time making but one short 
stop to prepare coffee for the men and to rest the deer. The cause for this occur- 
rence — unusual in the extreme — was that they were not able to find moss-fire of 
former years, years having destroyed it. The result of this was that when they 



92 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA. 

arrived both the men and the deer were nearly exhausted. Previous to their arrival 
the party had been on short rations for several days, so that taking the trip as a 
whole from the standpoint of those who made it it had been a hard one. 

The party was in charge of Dr. Carl O. Lind, supervisor of herds and apprentices 
for the northeastern division of the district of Alaska. He was accompanied by Ole 
Bahr, one of the Lapp herders from Unalakleet, and one Eskimo herder from the 
same place, Messrs. Charlie Raisenen, Adolph Saari, and Marelius Jensen, who were 
to act as herders at the Bettles station, and also two native boys from Bettles — Billy 
Strong and Indian Johnny — who were sent as guides for the expedition. 

Just before the party reached town they found sufficient moss for the pasturing of 
the deer for a day or two, but unfortunately it was so near to the village that some 
of the half-starved dogs belonging to some of the natives found their way to the herd 
and scattered it somewhat. 

The guides. — With the arrival of the herd at Bettles there were a number of ques- 
tions that had to be dealt with immediately and upon which neither Doctor Lind 
nor myself had received instructions. Among them, and perhaps the hardest with 
which we had to deal, was the matter of the payment of the guides, Billy Strong 
and Indian Johnny. 

These boys had been sent from Bettles to Unalakleet, via Tanana and St. Michael, 
on the last boat of the previous summer. They were to act as guides in bringing the 
reindeer overland. They had been gone from their home nearly four monttis. 

Previous to this the Northern Commercial Company, through its agent at Bettles, 
had presented a bill to me for their transportation amounting to $160, which did not 
include their living expenses at the way ports of Tanana and St. Michael, while 
waiting at these points to transfer onto other boats, nor transportation from St. 
Michael to Unalakleet. Having no instructions in the matter, I allowed this bill 
only after receiving sufficient correspondence from the agent at Bettles explaining 
the matter. 

Arrangements for sending these guides having been made directly between the 
Bureau of Education at Washington and the Northern Commercial people, neither 
Doctor Lind nor myself had any of the correspondence relating to the case. 

Had we been where we could have more easily communicated with tlie Depart- 
ment in regard to this matter we would have considered it out of our jurisdiction; 
but, under the circumstances, it would have worked a hardship for these boys, as 
well as treating them unjustly, for us to have taken this view. They had earned 
their money. They now expected their pay. It was right that they should have it. 

I accordingly addressed a letter to the agent of the Northern Commercial Com- 
pany on January 3, 1905, asking him for a copy of his correspondence authorizing 
him to hire these guides, and on January 4, 1905, I received his reply, in which he 
says: 

"On July 18, 1904, we received word from Doctor Jackson asking us to send two 
natives to Unaiaklik to guide the reindeer herd to this point, at the same time 
informing us that their expenses would be paid, and in addition they would receive 
a reasonable compensation for their services." 

The agent also quotes from correspondence from the general agent of education in 
Alaska to the general manager of the Northern Commercial Company as follows: 

"Kindly send word to your agent, Mr. Volney Kichmond, to select two reliable 
natives at Bettles and send them clown the river in August or September to St. 
Michael. Then have your agent forward them to Dr. C. O. Lind, Unaiaklik. These 
two men should be strong, healthy men and well actiuainted with the overland route 
from Unaiaklik to Bettles. I wish them for guiding the reindeer herd that will be 
sent from Unaiaklik to Bettles next winter. The Government will pay their travel- 
ing expenses to Unaiaklik, also from Unaiaklik to Bettles across country and pay a 
salary for their time." 

Northern Commercial Co., 
Per Volney Richmond, Agent. 

There being nothing definite in this correspondence as to the amount these guides 
were to receive for their services. Doctor Lind, as supervisor of herds and appren- 
tices, authorized the agent of the Northern Commercial Company to pay to each of 
these boys $50 — about $13 per month, or the average white man's wage for one day 
in that section — this to be paid to them on account, leaving the matter an open 
question between the Bureau of Education and the Northern Commercial Company 
for final adjustment. The matter is still unsettled as. far as any advices I have 
received would indicate. 

Natire ajyprentices. — The matter of apprentices was another question upon which 
neither Doctor Lind nor myself had received any instructions, nor were there any 
addressed to me from Washington until January 3, 1905, several days after the herd 
had arrived at Bettles. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 93 

Doctor Lind urged the necessity of putting on some native apprentices at once, on 
account of the worn-out condition of the herders from their overland trip. The 
most of the natives were then away engaged in their Christmas festivities, but before 
he left for home the supervisor approved of John Tumejaluk — a strong, robust man in 
middle life, an Eskimo commonly known as Old John — and put him on the force. 
The supervisor explained the terms of the service to this native, and I entered all 
other apprentices thereafter on the same conditions — there being no written form of 
■contract, to niy knowledge, for the native apprentices. This action of placing 
Tumejaluk with the herd was approved by the Office of the Bureau of Education in 
their correspondence under the date of March 11, 1905. 

It was my endeavor, as far as possible, to secure an equal number of Kobuks-Eski- 
mos and Koyukuks-Indians, but the Koyukuks did not seem at all enthusiastic over 
the matter, but two of them accepting the offer, and they dropping out later, each of 
his own free will. Of the Kobuks — five in number who accepted apprenticeships — 
but one dropped out, Charlie Onikuk. When Doctor Lind was with us this boy 
seemed to be in perfect health, and I am sure the supervisor would have put him on 
the herder's force had it not been that the boy's mother had not yet given her con- 
sent to his becoming a reindeer man. Later this was secured, and the boy sent to the 
herd. In a few weeks he came back sick and had to come back to town. This left 
the four Eskimo that were on the force all summer the only apprentices. Their 
names, in the order of their enlistment, are as follows: 

John Tumejaluk, entered service January 4, 1905. 

John Inootkak, entered service February 8, 1905. 

Peter Garfield, entered service February 10, 1905. 

Charlie Nanenak, entered service February 14, 1905. 

Shortly after Doctor Lind had started back on his homeward journey there 
threatened a crisis in the camp on account of the restlessness of the herders, a full 
account of which is on record in my correspondence with the Bureau of Education. 
I deemed it best for the safety of the herd that I should have a large force of 
apprentices. 

In the absence of instructions at this time as to the number of natives I would be 
allowed at this station, I decided to be controlled somewhat by the number of white 
men, women, and children that were being supported by the Government in con- 
nection with this herd. I refer to the three Finns and their families. There were 
3 men at Bettles, 3 women and 10 children belonging to their families at Hancock, 
Mich. — 16 in all — who were getting their living from the Government on the account 
of this herd, and so I concluded that there could be no objection inasmuch as the 
reindeer industry is for the immediate benefit of the natives, that at least an equal 
number of men, women, and children should become beneficiaries of this service. 

Accordingly, when I received word from the Bureau of Education, under the date 
of January 3, 1905, to limit the number of apprentices to four boys or single men, I 
had already on the force seven able-bodied natives. Two of them were single; the 
other five with their families entered the service with the understanding that they 
were to receive rations for their families as well as themselves, and the supervisor 
had himself approved of the family that was to draw the largest number of rations — 
that of John Tumejaluk — which was afterwards approved by the Bureau at Washing- 
ton. Thus, counting men, women, and children, there were 16 natives, just the 
same number as those of the Finns that were receiving the advantages of the herd. 

Later, under date of January 18, 1905, I received advice from the Bureau of Edu- 
cation to the effect that if I could not find suitable single men to go with the herd I 
could employ four married men and issue rations to both the man and his wife. This 
arrangement allowed the Bettles station eight native rations per month. With the 
dropjiing out of the two Koyukuks and Charlie Onikuk, the sickness and death of 
two children in one of the native's family and the marriage of the daughter of Old 
John, I was enabled at last to run the station on this basis of eight native rations per 
month. 

The matter of rations for the apprentices, including the amount and kind of pro- 
visions to be issued, was another thing upon w^hich at the time of the arrival of the 
herd I had received no instructions. Doctor Lind and myself went over the matter 
and det'ided upon a ration equal to about one-half in cost to that of the Finn herders' 
ration, which had been approved in AVashington. I afterwards received correspond- 
ence from the Bureau of Education authorizing me to supply them with food, but 
stating also that they were not to have as expensive a ration per month as did the 
Finns. The cost of the ration for the Finns was $30.42 each per month; that of the 
native apprentices, $18.16 each month. 

The Finn herders. — The three Finlanders already mentioned were sent by the Bureau 
of Education from Hancock, Mich., to train the native apprentices in the use of the 
deer. 



94 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA. 

The report that Doctor Lind gave of these men, and their conihict on thv trail from 
Unalakleet to Bettles, was anything but encouraging. He had trouble with them all 
along the way, so he said, and his report to that effect was afterwards verilied in my 
conversation with the two guides sent from Bettles to accompany the herd. How- 
ever, 1 did not permit this report to prejudice me, but it served to put nie on my 
guard. 

The fact that Doctor Lind further reported that these men were inexperienced 
reindeer men was a matter more vital to me than his account of their conduct. I felt 
that it was a great mistake on the part of those managing the enterprise to give such 
men as he said these were such responsible positions. We were starting a new sta- 
tion; the natives that were to become apprentices had never before handled reindeer;- 
to get started right Avas of greatest consequence; it was imperative, not only for these 
reasons but for the safety of the herd as well, that we should have had as herders 
men who had been in the Alaskan reindeer service previous to this, and who knew 
something at least of the business, as conducted at other stations. 

In my letter of January 11, 1905, to the Bureau of Education I am on record as 
protesting against the policy of sending inexperienced herders to such an isolated 
point. I also stated in conversation to Doctor Lind that I wished that he would 
leave me Ole Bahr as head herder and take one or two of these other men in his 
place, until the opening of navigation, when it would be possil)le for the Bureau to 
send some one to Bettles who had been in the service of the Alaskan herds. Doctor 
Lind thought that Mr. Bahr would not be willing to stay on account of his family 
being in Unalakleet. The result was that we were compelled to accept the situation 
and wait patiently for the Bureau of Education to work out its own salvation in the 
matter. 

I told Doctor Lind that under the circumstances I should not consider myself in 
any way responsible for the safety of the herd if he left me these men. I would do 
all that I could to keep them in the line of duty; I would do everything in my power 
to prevent the scattering of the deer by putting on the most trustworthy natives I 
could secure as apprentices, but that I considered it unjust for the Government to 
send me such men as he reported these to be. 

Under date of March 11, 1905, I received word from the Bureau of Education that 
it was the intention to drop the Finns and send me two good herders who would be 
able to give us the experience needed at this point. 

This same communication stated that these men would be sent up on the first boat 
in the spring. The first boat reached Bettles on June 22, 1905; there were no herd- 
ers on board. The second boat of the season arrived at Bettles July 21, and the 
third boat arrived on August 17, during my absence at Fort Gibbon, but on neither 
of these did any herders appear. It was not until September 3 that young Bals 
arrived at Bettles in company with myself returning from Gibbon, the day also on 
which Mrs. Cram and I left for the States. 

Early in the season the Finns rei^resented to me that they wanted to return to 
their homes in Michigan as soon as their contracts expired, and they requested me 
that I arrange for their return transportation from Bettles to Hancock, Mich. On 
the arrival of the second boat they came to me again with the same request. I told 
them it was a matter over which I had no authority, but that 1 thought it was no 
more than right that they should have their way paid from Bettles to St. jMichael, 
that being their port of entry into Alaskan territory. They had been brought 600 
miles or more from this port in driving the herd the winter before into this coun- 
try, and I told them that if they wished to send a message to the Commissioner of 
Education I would forward it for them at first opportunity; that I would do all in 
my power to see that they were given return transportation on the last boat to that 
point, notwithstanding I had received definite information from the Bureau of Edu- 
cation that the Government would not under any consideration pay their return 
transportation. This information came to me from Washington under date of March 
11 and May 10, and later, June 14 and August 8, by letter; still later, from Portland, 
Oreg., by telegram from the general agent of education in Alaska under date of August 
23, 1905. Later, however, August 28, 1905, the order was again modified b}- tele- 
gram from Portland, Oreg., stating that the Finns would be allowed |100 each on 
their return transportation. This message I received in Nulato, on my way out to 
the States. 

In taking the position that these men should be allowed a part of their traveling 
expenses in returning to their homes I in no way indorsed their services as experi- 
enced men. They were far from ideal reindeer men. The native apprentices that 
I put under them were more proficient in some of the things that the contracts of 
these men called for than the Finns were themselves; but in the event that they had 
done unjustly, leaving them stranded 5,000 miles away from their homes would not 
make up for any deficiency in their service. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 95 

Turning over the camp outfit. — Doctor Lind himself directed the purchaf^e of the 
camp outfit at the Northern Commercial Company's store for the Finn herders and 
which was delivered directly to them. He also told me that there were a number 
of tools, many of them two of a kind, and some of them three of a kind, that were 
to be turned over to the station. As to the reason for these tools being in duplicate 
and triplicate, the supervisor said that his understanding of the matter was that they 
had been purchased by the three Finns— Saara, Raisenen, and Jensen— for the Bureau 
of Education, from some mercantile establishment in Seattle without any requisition 
therefor, so far as he knew, other than that the house from which they had been 
purchased had been given authority from the office of the Commissioner of Education 
to let these men have whatever they asked for up to a certain amount, which the 
Bureau of Educatfon allowed each man to expend. These tools were turned over to 
me and I took them in charge, permitting them to be tak^^n to the camp only as 
necessary. The doctor stated that one full set of these tools, or thereabouts, had 
been left at Unalakleet. 

The Betl/es herd.— The following is the statement of Dr. C. 0. Lind as to the herd: 
"Bettles herd as it left Lhialakleet November 10, 1904: Sevenly-one old males, 
196 old females, 4 male fawns, 29 female fawns, 300 ceer in all. Two sled deer dead 
on the way; both by accident. One fawn lost on Alatna. One fawn fractured leg 
and had to be butchered on the Alatna. Total missing upon arrival at Bettles, i. e., 
as far as possible to know without lassoing and actual count is 2 sled deer and 2 
fawns. Total living deer, 296." 

A few days after Doctor Lind had left for Unalakleet I received a letter in which 
he made the following statement. 

"In giving you the deer account I entirely forgot that after the herd was counted 
at Unalakleet four additional sled deer were taken and of which I gave you no count." 
After the arrival of the herd at Bettles it was increased by the birth of 141 fawns 
that lived. Of these 72 were males and 69 females. There were also 18 other fawns 
born but which did not live. The total loss by death among the old deer was 18. 
This loss is computed from the time the herd left Unalakleet. 

Doctor Lind in answer to my inquiry as to the general rules of the Government 
relating to the management of the herds, stated that to his knowledge there were no 
general rules defining the duties of the herders nor yet those of the apprentices. 
Different herds were managed differently; as a rule the whole matter of control 
being left to the local superintendent — as, for instance, in the visiting of the local 
superintendent to his herd. Some of them went to their herds once or twice a year, 
some of them once in two or three months, and some of them oftener — all according 
to the distance of the herd from the station and the causes for the visits. 

During the first six months of the year 1905 I made some nine or ten trips to the 
Bettles herd. 

On nearly all of these occasions I saw the herd and satisfied myself that the greater 
part of thecleer were there. Under the circumstances, considering the inefficiency 
of the herders, the very best that I could hope to do would be to hold the greater 
part of the herd together until new help should arrive, and which I had been prom- 
ised on the opening of navigation. I am satisfied that up to the time that I left for 
Fort Gibbon the most of the herd was together. The natives on the force were very 
frequently in town, and every time that they came in I questioned them particu- 
larly with resiiect to the deer' I antagonized these herders as little as possible aeid 
still assure prcV^ction to the Government of the property under their care. 

There was not 'the slightest thing in the contracts of" the Finn herders by which 
any power was given any local superintendent in Alaska even to suspend these men 
from service for any mWdemeanor whatever that they might commit. These being 
the conditions, there was nothing for me to do, had they chosen to destroy every deer 
in the herd, but report the matter to Washington, or enlist the services of the 
commissioner or deputy marshal under the Department of Justice, and by the terms 
of the contracts even they could do nothing until the Commissioner of Education 
had decided that there had been a default on the part of the herders. 

During the latter part of the winter and in the early spring the herders and the 
apprentices together made a number of pulkas, skies, harness, and halters, which 
were necessary in the work of the station. 

From the very first time I visited the herd I estimated the number of deer in the 
herd by glancing at the whole herd and grouping them in fives and tens, etc. The 
most accurate of these estimates was made on February 16, 1905, when I counted 272 
deer, at the same time my head herder making the count, his result being some two 
hundred and eighty-odd. 

The later correspondence from the Bureau.— A letter was addressed to me from the 
office of the Bureau of Education on the 11th of March, 1905, stating that Congress 



96 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SEKVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

had cut down the reindeer appropriation from $25,000 to $15,000, but not mentioning 
the fact that the appropriation for schools outside of incorporated towns had been 
reduced by about one-half of what had been received the year before, for this com- 
ing fiscal year ending June 30, 1906. There was nothing addressed to me from the 
office of the Bureau on this subject until May 10, 1905, over two months after Con- 
gress had adjourned. 

This letter was about six weeks in reaching me, bringing it near to midsummer 
before it was delivered at Bettles. It also contained the intelligence that on account 
of this reduction in the appropriation it " will compel us to reduce your salary some- 
what next year." The term "somewhat" in this correspondence was a decidedly 
unknown quantity to Mrs. Cram and myself. It showed a state of indefiniteness on 
the part of the Bureau to say the least. More than two months had elapsed between 
the adjournment of Congress and the writing of that letter, and the officers of the 
Bureau had during that time ample time to have adjusted their schedules and to 
have ascertained the exact amount of that reduction of " somewhat." However, I 
decided to wait and see if the next mail would not bring the appointments and then 
we would know just where we were at. In this I was disappointed, for the appoint- 
ments never came. 

Our then present appointments terminated on May 31, 1905, twenty days after the 
above letter was written in Washington, D. C. I decided, however, before taking 
any definite action to wait for another mail at least. On the 21st of July I received 
a letter from the office of the Bureau of Education, under the date of June 14, 1905, 
which stated: "You and your wife will be continued another year at Bettles." 
More than another month had gone by, and still there were no appointments and no 
information as to the amount our salaries would be cut, even for the time we were 
then serving, our appointments having expired May 31 for the coming year. 

On the same mail I received a letter from the Bureau of Education, dated June 3, 
1905, inclosing an order from the Acting Secretary of War on the commanding officer 
at Fort Gibbon, Alaska, granting me the privilege of purchasing supplies for the 
Bettles reindeer station, and for my own personal use "such quartermaster supplies 
(and also subsistence stores) as in the opinion of the commanding officer at Fort 
Gibbon may be spared without detriment to the service." The order further stated 
that the sales were to be for cash at cost price to" the Government plus 50 per cent 
added to cover wastage in transportation. 

The order, as far as the purchase of supplies for the reindeer station was concerned, 
was worthless without some arrangement between the War Department and the 
Bureau of Education whereby the commanding officer at Fort Gibbon would accept 
as cash my vouchers drawn on the Bureau. I naturally supposed that such an 
arrangement had been made, or else the Bureau of Elducation would not have sent 
me such an order. When I arrived at Fort Gibbon, on inquiry, I learned from 
Major Stamper, the commanding officer, that no such arrangement had been made, 
and, before returning to Bettles from Fort Gibbon, I received the following statement, 
dated August 22, 1905, and signed by Major Stamper: 

"The post commissary has no authority to- aix'efilt any document or voucher other 
than Government check as cash, as called for by i:egulatioiT.s.> .» ^^ 

"""""' "^"^V. Y. StampeiJ^ 
"Major, Third Infantry, Commanding." 

On the 8th of August, 1905, a letter was addressed to me f^i^rlhe office of the 
Bureau of Education which, in justice to Mrs. Cram and mvfmi, should have been 
written at least three months before. By the terms of tha^tter the Bettles school 
was to be closed because "that Congress had reduced th||ichool appropriation from 
$100,000 to $50,000 and the reindeer appropriation fron^25,000 to $15,000," a fact 
that the officers of the Bureau had known for more than five months, and during 
which time we had been told that we should be retained at Bettles for another year, 
and had made our plans accordingly. 

This letter also stated, further, that I should remove the herd southward to the 
neighborhood of Fort Gibbon, and if I chose I could make my headquarters at Tanana 
for the winter; "unless you and your wife prefer coming out." In that case I was 
to turn over the herd to Rev. J. L. Prevost, Episcopal missionary at Tanana. 

With regard to the Finns, I was cautioned not to give letters of introduction to 
either steamship or railroad companies for their return fare; I was also informed 
that they would be discharged on September 1, 1905, and the writer of the letter 
says: 

"I will in a couple of days send $100 of their salary account to each of them; 
this will enable them to pay the^r way back to the States if they wish to return." 

As to the salaries of myself or wife for the coming year there was not the slightest 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 97 

mention. While the letter advised my going to Tanana for the winter, if I chose, no 
mention was made as to how we were going to get there, nor if the Government 
would pay the expenses of making the move were it possible to do so. 

The othcers of the Bureau of PMucation should have known that the chances were 
greatly against the delivery of that letter at Bettles before the close of navigation. 
As a matter of fact I intercepted the letter about 600 miles from Bettles on my way 
out to the States with Mrs. Cram. 

This letter closing the school at Bettles was written August 8, nine days before the 
Bureau of Education received mj' telegram from Nulato stating that we could not 
consider a cut in our salaries for the coming year, a certified copy of which telegram 
I have, attested by the signature of the Commissioner as to the date of its receipt, 
August 17, 1905, at Washington, D. C. 

The various letters referred to under this head, aside from containing the informa- 
tion already mentioned, also contain other matter relating to the conduct of the herd 
at the Bettles station. 

lYlp to telegraphic co)nmunication.— -When the steamer Koi/nkuk arrived at Bettles 
on her second trip, bringing no relief for the Finn herders, and the appointments for 
the coming j^ear for either Mrs. Cram or myself had not arrived, it became evident 
if we were going to remain at Bettles for the coming winter and know just how much 
money we were going to have to live on, I must make an attempt to get in telegraphic 
communication with the Bureau of Education at Washington. 

To accouiplish this it would be necessary to leave Mi's. Cram at Bettles alone to 
manage and care for the herd and the herders and the apprentices as best she could 
while I took the trip to Fort Gibbon, by the way of Nulato, some 750 or 800 miles 
away, 600 miles of which, from Bettles to Nulato, must be traveled in a small open 
boat. There would be weeks at a time when we could not hear from each other, and 
there was the element of risk that always accomj^anies such a river journey. That 
very month in which I left men had lost their lives in those northern streams who 
had ])etter boats than the one in which I and my party would make our trip. 

On the 27th of July I made up a party of four other men, all but one stranded 
miners, who wanted to get out of the country, and securing an old jseterboi'o canoe, 
repairing it to some extent, we started down the Koyukuk River. It was still the 
time of year when it was daylight all night, and we ran night and day, only stopping 
in camp long enough at any one time to cook a meal, and in five days we reached 
the Yukon River. 

At Nulato. — On August 2, 1905, from Nulato I sent to the Commissioner of Edu- 
cation the following message: 

Nulato, Alaska, August 2, 1905. 

Commissioner of Education, Washington, D. C: 

Can not consider cut in salaries coming year. Commercial Company Bettles 
advanced prices on some provisions 50 per cent already. Appointments to include 
transportation Bettles to New York if we wish to go. Living expenses so large last 
year not enough left to pay fare home. 

Finns send following message: 

" We demand ti-ansportation from Bettles to St. Michael, at least. 

"Raisexex." 

Jensen sick two months. Order on Fort Gibbon received. Going now arrange 
immediate shipment, if possible. Supplies can not reach Bettles by sledding before 
January, 1906. 

Wire authority secure industrial school ration children 5 to 14 attending regularly. 
No acknowledgment received expense account self and Finns. Reached Nulato five 
days, traveling night and day. Peterboro canoe. Distance, 600 miles. Reply Fort 
Gibbon. 

D. W. Cram, Superintendent Gorermnent ScJiool. 

With reference to the industrial school ration mentioned in the above telegram, 
we had been informed that the school at Unalaklik had received such aid the year 
before to a limited extent, and I desire the same privileges for our Bettles pupils 
who were not yet able to support themselves while their parents went on their long 
hunts, so that these children would not be compelled to go on these journeys, which 
interfered greatly with their work in the schoolroom. 

Since coming to Washington I have compared this message as sent at Nulato with 
the copy as it was received at the office of the Bureau of Education, and while there 
were a number of words changed in transmission, the first half of the message, deal- 
ing with myself and the Finn herders, came through almost without error. As I 

S. Doc. 483, 5^1 7 



98 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SEKVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

have mentioned before, tliis message played no part in the elosino; of the school at 
Betties, that order havin<j been sent from the office of the Bureau by letter on 
August 8, 1905, nine days before this message was received at Washington; also by 
telegram of the Commissioner of Education, dated Washington, D. C., August 14, 
1905, three days before this message was received which, according to the Commis- 
sioner's certificate, was August 17, 1905, at the office of the Bureau. 

It was necessary for me to stay several days in Nulato before I could get a boat to 
Fort Gibbon. In the meantime I saw to it that the men that came down the river 
with me in the canoe were taken care of. Three of these men went to the westward 
from Nulato — to St. Michael. I secured a chance for two of them to work their way, 
the other man having boarded an N. A. T. and T. boat took care of himself. The 
fourth man remained in Nulato with me until the arrival of the boat gtjing up the 
river; he had some money of his own; he also secured a chance to do longshoring 
at Tanana, and afterwards went to Fairbanks. 

At Fort Gibbon. — I reached Fort Gibbon on August 9, 1905. On consulting Major 
Stamper, the commanding officer of the post, I found the order which I had received 
was all right. The major said that he did not know just what part of the goods that 
I wanted he could spare, but that he would have the post quartermaster go over the 
list with me, which he did, and finding that the greater part of them were available. 

In the matter of transporting the goods to Bettles, I asked the major if I could 
secure the services of a Government boat for this purpose. He told me that the only 
steamer they had in commission this year was the Jef Davis, but if I could secure 
the consent of the department commander at Vancouver Barracks, Wash., to use 
the boat for this purpose, he thought he could arrange the trip up the Koyukuk 
for me. 

In view of these facts, I immediately addressed the following telegram to the 
department commander: 

Fort Gibbon, Alaska, August 9, 1905. 

Department General, Department Columbia, 

Headquarters, Vancouver Barracks: 
Have purchased large amount supplies at this post for Bettles reindeer station on 
authority Secretary War. Have no means of transporting them to Bettles. Desire 
courtesy of Jeff Davis for this purpose. Commanding officer Fort Gibbon states boat 
will be available for this purpose with your permission. This telegram sent with 
his knowledge. 

D. W. Cram, Superintendent Bettles Station. 

A few days after sending this Major Stamper handed me the following reply: 

Vancouver Barracks, Wash., 16, 1905. 

Commanding Officer, 

Fort Gibbon, Alaska: 
Telegram received here D. W. Cram, superintendent Bettles station, requesting 
permission to transport certain supplies from Fort Gibbon to Bettles mines station 
by Jeff C. Davis. If possible to comply with i-equest without interfering in any way 
with the legitimate work of the Davis, do so and advise Cram accordingly. 

Wood, Military Secretary. 

Had I been permitted to carry out this plan, and had the proper arrangements 
been made early in the season on the part of the Bureau of Education granting the 
commanding officer at Fort Gibbon authority to accept the vouchers of the Bureau 
as cash, I could have purchased the supplies for the coming year at Fort Gibbon and 
landed them at Bettles at cost of about retail price on Puget Sound for the same class 
of goods. 

Of course when I sent the above telegram I was not aware of the fact that the day 
before there had been written in the office of the Bureau of Education a letter 
addressed to me at Bettles, to which I have already referred, ordering the school 
closed and the reindeer removed. 

After it had become a settled fact that I was going out to the States, while at Nulato 
on my way back to Bettles to get Mrs. Cram I wired the departmen tcommander as 
follows: 

Nulato, Alaska, August 25, 1905. 
Department Commander, 

Vanco urer Barracks: 

Commanding officer Fort Gibbon advises courtesy Jeff Davis granted. Thanks. 
Have been recalled. Will not need boat now this season. 

D, W. Cram, Superintendent Bettles Station. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 99 

Immediately on sending my first telegram to the department commander at Van- 
couver Barracks, I advised the Commissioner of Education by wire of what I had 
done, as follows: 

Fort Gibbon, Alaska, August 9, 1905. 
Commissioner of Education, 

WasJtington, D. C: 
Arrived to-day. Have wired department general, headquarters Vancouver Bar- 
racks, permission to use steamer Jejf' Davis to transport our supplies to Bettles on 
statement commanding officer here as to boat being available. Should request be 
denied will attempt to get six months supplies up Koyukuk on Northern Commercial 
Comjiany's boats. 

Cram, Sujjerintendent Bettles Station. 

In an interview with the post quartermaster at Fort Gibbon, and later with the 
commanding officer, I learned that on the order which I had I could not secure any 
medical supplies. It was necessary that we should have some supplies of this nature 
at Bettles for children attending school, as well as for the natives and herders con- 
nected with the force. 

I also ascertained that the officers of the post had not been authorized to accept 
the vouchers of the Bureau of Education as cash, which blocked completely any pur- 
chase of goods for the Government. 

Grasping the situatiou, I at once decided to make an effort to have the vouchers of 
the Bureau honored, so that I could conclude the purchase of these supplies, arrange 
for the transporting of the same to Bettles, thus saving to my Department on sub- 
sistent stores and clothing alone 82,000 or S3,000. I had, previous to leaving Bettles, 
received information that under recent legislation new provision had been made for 
the care of the natives of Alaska, and that the whole matter had been put under the 
care of the Secretary of the Interior. In view of these facts, I addressed the foUow- 
hig message directly to the Secretary : 

Fort Gibbon, Alaska, August 11, 1905. 
Secretary of the Interior, 

Washington, D. C. 
Purchasing supplies Bettles reindeer station coming year authorit)' Secretary of 
War, your request. Order does not include medical supplies. 

Will you request Secretary War authorize commanding officer here, through 
Department of the Columbia, furnish medicine. Also accept my voucher on Bureau 
Education for goods purchased now. 

Natives Upper Koyukuk may need Government assistance coming winter. Advised 
matter in your charge. Kations for this purpose can be sledded after November 1 
from here should authoritv be granted. 

I have asked department commander courtesy steamer Je^ Davis transport present 
purchase. 

D. W. Cram, Superintendent Bettles Station. 

I remained at Fort Gibbon until August 23, butreceivedno word while there grant- 
ing the authority asked in the above message. Thus the securing of supplies for the 
Bettles reindeer station at Fort Gibbon failed, though I did all in my power to bring 
it about. The reason I have stated in dealing with the correspondence of June 8. 

Order of the Co)iu7iissioner of Education closing up the v'ork at Bettles. — On the 15th of 
August, 1905, 1 received the following message from the Commissioner of Education, 
containing in substance the same advice- as that by letter from his office under date 
of August 8, 1905, which letter I later intercepted on my way out to the States: 

Washington, D. C, August 14, 1905. 
D. AV. Cram, 

Fort Gibbon, Alaska. 
Upon the freezing of rivers and swamps drive the Bettles herd to good pasturage 
near Tanana, and close Bettles school for this season. Transfer care of reindeer to 
Reverend Prevost. Particulars by mail. Place school property in charge of North- 
ern Commercial agent. Purchase only three months' supplies of rations to last 
herders until their arrival near Tanana. If your wife and yourself wish to return to 
the States this fall, Bureau of Education will pay your steamship and ration fare. 
Mr. Prevost will take charge at once and allow you to go while the boats are run- 
ning; confer with him. Telegraph decision. 

W, T, Harris, Commissioner Education. 



100 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE,, ETC.;, IN ALASKA. 

To attempt to describe my feelings on the receipt of the aljove message would be 
impossible. As I summed up the meaning carefully point by point, without any 
further light on the sultject, my conclusions were somewhat of follows: 

First. "Close the Bettles school." That meant Mrs. Cram's services were sum- 
marily dispensed with, after we had been given definite notice under date of June 14 
that she (the exact wording of the letter being "You and your wife" ) would l)e con- 
tinued another year at Bettles. Her dismissal was without any comi)laint as to her 
work not giving satisfaction. Against her record as a primary teachei' the Bureau 
could have no criticism, either in the States or at Bettles, it being that of the very 
best. 

Second. There was no definite promise of a salary of any definite amount that the 
Bureau of Education would pay to me. The message stated that I was to take "three 
months' supplies" to last the herd until we got to Tanana. I was then to turn the 
herd over to ]Mr. Prevost, without any promise of any future employment Ity the 
Bureau. 

Third. Two choices and only two were open to us, as laid down in this telegram, 
and also in the letter of August 8, later received. We could stay with the herd on 
an indefinite salary (making headquarters either at Tanana or Bettles), or at that late 
time in the season make a forced move back to the States. 

Fourth. In view of the fact that this message stated that Mr. Prevost would take 
charge of the herd at once, and when interviewed said that he had not heard of such 
a thing before, I conjectured that the Bureau of Education had got into trouble in 
their accounts and were sacrificing Mrs. Cram and me to make things come out even 
on their appropriations. 

Fifth. Our reward for faithful service in the schoolroom, for the sacrifices made 
to do this work, for my leaving Mrs. Cram at Bettles, and coming on this trip in the 
interest of the Government, with literally hundreds of miles of wilderness between 
us, our reward for all this was retention in the service under conditions such as no 
self-respecting people could accept or to return to the States in the dead of winter, 
with no home to go to and nothing to do. 

Sixth. My native apprentices at Bettles, who had been promised a part of that 
herd on condition of faithful service, were in noway to be cared for. Some of these 
men had sold their dogs and one had sold his cabin, because they did not need 
these if they were to become reindeer men. The herd was to be taken from them 
and turned over to another people of another tribe, hundreds of miles from their 
own land. 

Seventh. "Particulars by mail." Anyone in any way acquainted with the 
Alaskan mail service should have known that at the time of the sending of that tele- 
gram no letter could have reached me on the upper Koyukuk before the close of 
navigation. 

Having come to the above conclusions, the next question was what steps should I 
take. Since the Commissioner had given no reason for his action, I decided that 
there undoubtedly must be charges of a serious nature against Mrs. Cram and myself. 
This led me to send the following message: 

Fort Gibbon, Alaska, August 16, 1905. 
Commissioner Education, 

Wasldngton, D. C: 
Your telegram received. Your letter with particulars can not reach me this season 
before navigation on Koyukuk closes. Wire why I am recalled; I have a right to 
know. What shall I do with Finns? They want to go home. They demand of me 
transportation Bettles to St. Michael at least. Will consult Prevost. Should your 
order stand, will attempt to catch last boat out. 

D. W. Cram, Superintendent Bettles IStation. 

As to the second step, I felt most keenly the injustice of the summary dismissal of 
Mrs. Cram, which the order of the Commissioner compelled, especially when I felt 
sure there had been no complaint or charge against her. For me to have accepted 
it in silence would have been to have played the part of a knave. There was no 
time for protest; the season was too far advanced. "Wires were working badly on 
account of the extremely wet weather. For me to refuse further orders from the 
Commissioner and his office would at least put matters in line for investigation as to 
the conduct of the Bettles station and school work, than which I believe there has 
been none better in Alaska under the administration of the Bureau of Education. 
I accordingly sent the following message to the Secretary of the Interior, trusting 
that some way "might be found by which the work we had started, and was needed 
there in behalf of the natives more than in any other portion of Alaska, might be 
continued." 



EDUCATIOISrAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC.^ IN ALASKA. 101 

Fort Gibbon, Alaska, August 16, 1905. 
Secretary of the Interior, 

Washington, D. C: 

Have been advi^ied by Senator Nelson, ^Minnesota, ample provision has been made 
for natives of Alaska and whole matter placed under your charge. Wife and I have 
been at i^ettles, above Arctic Circle, last year under Bureau Education. Business 
relations with Bureau have been unsatisfactory. Transactions on the part of Bureau 
decidedly slack and absolutely unbusinesslike. Received word in June would be 
retained" Bettles; also received order on Fort Gibbon for supplies. Unsatisfactory 
mail service Bettles. Came down Koyukuk 600 miles Peterboro canoe. Found 
order (). K. Now Commissioner Education orders me by wire close school Bettles 
immediately; turn over herd to mission at this point. Promises transportation to the 
States; offers no further remuneration; states no reason for his action, except letter 
particulars follows, which can not possibly reach me before the close of navigation 
on Koyukuk. 

I refuse to receive further orders from the Commissioner or his office. 

Wife and I willing to go on with work at Bettles this winter; salaries same as last 
year; traveling expenses to New York next spring, or will report at Washington 
immediately, as you desire. 

Only five days for action; wires working badly. 

Failing to hear from you, will report at Washington as soon as possible. 

D. W. Cram, Superintendent Bettles Station. 

In the meantime I had a talk with Mr. Prevost over the phone as to the Commis- 
sioner's telegram of the 14th to me. He told me that this was the first information 
he had received concerning it. He asked me to come out to his house and talk the 
matter over. Before my arrival at his house, some 4 miles distant, he had received 
a message from the Commissioner of Education, a copy of which at my request.he 
gave me, and which reads as follows: 

Washington, D. C, Jugiust 14, 1905. 
Rev. J. L. Post, Fort Gibbon, Alaska: 

Commissioner of Education proposes removing reindeer herd from Bettles to 
neighborhood Xanana as soon as rivers and swamps are frozen. Will loan your mis- 
sion 100 head, but would like to keep the remaining two or three hundred reindeer 
with your herd for the present. Experienced Lapp herder will be in charge to train 
apprentices. Can you take oversight of the reindeer and relieve Mr. Cram, now in 
charge, at once and send reliable white man to remain with the herd until they can 
be driven to Tanana? Confer with Mr. Cram. Telegraph reply at Government 
expense. 

W. T. Harris, Commissioner. 

Mr. Prevost wanted to know what the Commissioner meant by a new "loan" to 
his mission. He told me that he could produce the facts from the Government 
reindeer reports to the effect that the Government owed him a large herd of deer; 
that the Bureau of Education had never fulfilled their obligations to himself or his 
people; that once before — some eleven years ago — he had sent a responsible white 
man to the vicinity of Cape Prince of Wales, at his own expense, only to be turned 
down l)y the Bureau; the only conditions on which he would accept the supervision 
of the Bettles herd being that his herd or the equivalent should be transferred to 
him, and he would send a reliable white man to Bettles to take charge of the herd 
only at Government expense. He incorporated these points into a telegram which 
he sent to the Commissioner of Education. 

The refusal of Mr. Prevost to accept supervision of the Bettles herd under the con- 
ditions laid down by the Bureau of Education put me in a peculiar position — with 
Mrs. Cram discharged and the herd on my hands. 

The telegram to Mr. Prevost stated, ''Can you take oversight of the reindeer and 
relieve Mr. Cram, now in charge, at once?" Comparing this message with that of the 
one sent to me fi'om the Commissioner, in which he gave me the choice of staying in 
the service under no definite promise as to further remuneration or the chance of 
returning to the States, I concluded that he had so manipulated this as to compel me 
to make a forced move to the States, as he knew, and therefore he asked Mr. Prevost 
to "relieve" me "at once." 

Accordingly, I advised the Secretary of the Interior of the situation in the follow- 
ing message: 



102 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA. 

Fort Gibhon, Alaska, August 17, 1905 
Secretary of the Interior, 

Wuxh'tiKjtun, I). C. 
Apropos message yesterday Commissioner Education wires mission superintendent 
here asking him to take over Bettles herd, send man Bettles, offering loan 100 deer, 
asking him take general oversight Government deer also. Instructing him consult 
me. Have interviewed superintendent. Claims Government owes mission and 
natives here about 800 deer. He wants no new loan. Government to pay back 
those 300. Refuses to send man to Bettles to take charge on his own account. 
Says he has had decidedly unsatisfactory experience with Bureau Education during 
last ten vears concerning reindeer. 

I). W. Cram, 
Superinfendent Bettles Station. 
Considering the message of the Commissioner to ]Mr. Prevost with relation to the 
herders, I noted that he said that "Lapp herders" were to be furnished him. 

This arrangement would strand the Finn herders at Bettles. Under the circum- 
stances I felt that the Secretary of the Interior should know the facts, and late on 
the 17th of August sent the following message: 

Fort Gibbon, Alaska, August 17, 1905. 
Secretary of the Interior, 

Washington, D. C. 
Have three Finn herders stranded Bettles without funds. Contracts expire Sep- 
tember 1. Bureau Education transported Hancock, Mich., to Unalakleet. Helped 
drive herd to Bettles. Bureau proposes dropping them there without any trans- 
portation whatever. Finns desire to go home. While they proved inexperienced, 
reindeer men this does them injustice. Transportation, Bettles to Hancock, $200 
each. Bettles St. Michael costs §80 each. Included their message in mine August 
2 to the Commissioner. Commissioner thus far not answered. He wires Mr. Pre- 
vost, mission superintendent here, Lapp herders to be supplied, provided transfer is 
made from Bettles. Await orders concerning Finns. Your failing to reach me 
before returning Bettles will handle matter to reflect greatest credit on administra- 
tion. Probably ask Northern Commercial Company issue them transportation St. 
Michael, at least, regardless prior instructions of Bureau. Have advised President 
Eoosevelt my refusal to accept orders Bureau Education. One Finn sick. 

D. W. Cram, 
Superintendent Bettles Station. 

On the evening of August 21 a message from the Commissioner of Education came 
to me, which was delivered early the next morning. It read as follows. 

Washington, August 21. 
D. W. Cram, 

Fort Gibhon, Alaska: 
Law of Congress forbids incur debts beyond annual appropriations. Obliged to 
have herds near telegraph stations. Tanana needs herd. Expect telegram. Jack- 
son now at Seattle. No complaint against you. 

W. T. Harris, Commissioner. 

This was the first light I had had on conditions at the Washington end of the line. 
The fact that there was no complaint against me lifted a cloud that made somewhat 
clearer the motive of the authorities at W^ashington; against iNIrs. Cram and her work 
I knew there could not be the least ground for complaint; we were simply vindicated 
and discharged. 

As to the fact that the Commissioner was "obliged to have herds near telegraph 
stations," this policy generally applied would result in the removal of all the herds 
along the great northwestern coast of Alaska, between Nome and Point Barrow, as well 
as affecting the herds in the region of the Kuskokwim. Certainly he was not intend- 
ing to remove all of these herds to telegraphic connnunication; why, then, should 
there be such urgent demand to remove this herd at Bettles, which had a better 
winter mail service than any of the rest of these points — there being a twice a month 
mail service from October to May, which during these months of the winter of 1904 
and 1905 was never delayed beyond the limit of its schedule? Business houses 
found they had no trouble in communicating with us. The Bureau of Education 
should not have had. That they failed to take up their correspondence in time is 
proven by their sending of their letter from Washington under date of August 8, 
previously referred to, as well as by the Commissioner's telegram of August 14, 
which stated "particulars by mail." 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 103 

Arranging a relief. — On August 22, having received word from 3Ir. Prevost in writ- 
ing that he would not take over the herd nor send a reliable white man to take charge 
until he heard further from the Government, I laid the matter of a relief from the 
noncommissioned ofBcers of the post before Major Stamper, stating that I had been 
ordered to close the work at Bettles for the season and that there was then no relief 
in sight. He said he would have to take the matter up with the Department, which 
he did in the following message: 

Fort Gibbon, Alaska, August 22. 

Military Secretary, Vancouver Barracks, Wash.: 

Mr. Cram, superintendent Government reindeer station, has been recalled to Wash- 
ington at once. His relief will not arrive for some time. He requests that I detail a 
noncommissioned officer to take charge at Bettles until relief arrives in latter part of 
September. Transportation to be charged against the Department Interior. Would 
recommend that authority be granted me to send noncommissioned officer tempo- 
rarily to Bettles. Earliest answer possible requested, as transportation will stop by 
Septerpber 1. 

Stamper. 

Thinking that perhaps General Greely could detail a noncommissioned officer from 
the Signal Corps, I suggested that I wire him also, which suggestion Major Stamper 
approved. Then whichever request was granted first the major could act upon in 
case the action was favorable on the part of either of the generals. My message was 
forwarded to General Greely at Fort Davis. On the same day I received the follow- 
ing reply: 

Fort Davis, August 22, 1905. 
Cram, Gibbon: 

Application must be made Secretary of War, I having no power. You can say 
that I have no objections under circumstances. 

Greely. 

When this request reached the Secretary of War it was transmitted to the Depart- 
ment of the Interior for approval, and in due form referred to the Bureau of Edu- 
cation, where it was turned down, the Bureau stating that the relief was not necessary. 
Later the Bureau of Education authorized Mr. Prevost by telegram to employ a 
capable man (message of August 14 asks if he "can send reliable white man") at a 
salary of $100 per month and all his traveling expenses overland from Fort Gibbon 
to Bettles to assist in driving the herd to Tanana. 

When I came back to Tanana on my way out to the States with Mrs. Cram, Mr. Prevost 
introduced me to the man that was going to make the journey on this trip. He was 
then arranging for his camp outfit, supplies, and Indian guide, dog team, tent and 
stove, winter clothing, etc., all of which were necessary in the overland journey at 
that season of the year. I do not know if that man ever went to Bettles, but if he 
did and the Government stood the entire traveling expenses, including the payment 
of the Indian guide, it would cost from eight to ten times what it would have cost to 
have sent up a noncommissioned officer on the last boat. The point is not, did the 
man go? but, did the Bureau of Education authorize the expenditure? They surely 
did. Thus, it will be seen that the two movements in which I made an honest 
attempt to save the Government funds in each case was blocked, for some reason or 
other, in the office of the Bureau. The first of these was the attempt to purchase 
supplies at Gibbon, blocked because the proper arrangements had not been made for 
the cashing of the Bureau of Education vouchers. The other case, that of the relief 
just cited. The saving to the appropriations if these movements had been allowed 
to materialize would have amounted to between three thousand and three thousand 
five hundred dollars, much more than the combined salaries of both Mrs. Cram and 
myself. That there was no relief in sight for me is proven Ijy the following message 
from the Bureau of Education, which Mr. Prevost handed me just before I went onto 
the boat to return to Bettles: 

Washington, D. C, August 21, 1905. 
J. L. Prevost, Fort Gibbon, Alaska: 

One hundred deer promised you from present herd at Bettles; will add 76 on credit 
for you at Unalakleet — 23 males, 53 females from Bettles. Write me in full your 
account of former transaction ; not understood by me. Will write you my view to-day. 
Our herder, Bals, jr., if goes to Bettles, will drive herd to Tanana at Government 
expense. Will know later. 

W. T. Harris, C'o) nndssioner Education. 



104 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA. 

Mr. Prevost also stated that this message changed things, and tliat under those 
conditions he would take charge of the deer if they could be forwarded to him, 
though he and the Conimi^sioner had not yet agreed as to settling his claims. 

I reached Nulato on the 24th of August. Here it was again necessary that I should 
wait for the l)oat going to Bettles. On August 26 I received the following message 
from the general agent of education at Portland, Oreg. : 

Portland, Oreg., Avgust ^S, 1905. 
D. W. Cram, Nvlato, Alaska. 

(Forwarded from Fort Gibbon): 
Government school at Settles is closed. Board up lower windows and have prop- 
erty in charge of Commercial Company agent. Your appointment will close Sep- 
tember 30, 1905. Yourself and wife allowed traveling expenses to j'our home in 
Minnesota. Reindeer are turned over to the care of Episcopal mission, Tanana. 
Ask Commercial Company agent to furnish monthly rations and look after the rein- 
deer until Prevost removes the herd in the winter; ration bill to be sent to Wash- 
ington. Two Lapps are en route to take charge of herd. Finns must pay their 
traveling expenses from Bettles; they can give transportation company an order on 
their salary for traveling expenses from Bettles. No funds available for purchase of 
medicine for natives or rations for school children. Send full report of what you do. 

Sheldon Jackson, General Agent. 

I have a certified copy of the message which the Commissioner of Education says 
was sent. It contains the following corrections: 

1. In the address, "Fort Gibbon" instead of "Nulato." 

2. Second line, " leave property " instead of "and have;" also word "of" omitted. 

3. Third line, after the word "agent," insert "and return with your wife this fall 
to the States." 

4. Lines 3 and 4, "Salary will be extended to October 1, 1905," instead of "Your 
appointment will close September 30, 1905." 

5. Lines 4 and 5, "Yourself and wife," etc., reads: "Traveling expenses allowed 
from Bettles to your home in Minnesota." 

6. Line 6, "the reindeer" instead of "reindeer." 

7. Balance of the message practically the same, except that it is transposed and 
the words "send full report of what you do" do not appear in the Commissioner's 
certified copy. 

To attempt to explain these differences it would be necessary to trace the message 
from the receiving office of the telegraph lines. 

On the 26th of August I sent the Secretary of the Interior the following message: 

"Nulato, Alaska, August 26, 1905. 
"Secretary of the Interior, 

^'WasJiington, D. C. 
' ' Pxlucation Office advises two Lapps en route Bettles. None here yet. Have asked 
Secretary War noncommissioned officer detailed my relief. Approved by Major 
Stamper, also General Greely. Making every attempt to leave on last boat. Prevost, 
Tanana, Bureau not yet agreed. 

"D. W. Cram, 
"Superintendent Bettles Station." 

Just l)efore the boat arrived for Bettles the younger Mr. Bals reached Nulato. He 
went with me to Bettles, where we arrived September 3. I gave the order for the 
purchase of the three months supplies for the herd and the herders to get them to 
Tanana and gave Mr. Bals, and later Mr. Prevost (on my return to the States), each 
a copy of the following instructions as to the moving of the herd to Tanana. 

[Instructions for driving tlie reindeer herd from Bettles, Alaska, to near Tanana, Alaska.] 

To the officer in cliarge and Peter N. Bals, herder: 

[Telegram from W. T. Harris, Washington, D. C, August 14, 1905.] 

" Upon the freezing of rivers and swamps drive the Bettles herd to good pasturage 
near Tanana. Transfer care of reindeer to Reverend Prevost. * * * Mr. Prevost 
will take charge at once." 

In accordance with the above instructions from the Commissioner of Education, 
you will commence moving the herd toward Tanana as early in November as 
possible. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA, 105 

Route: Your best route will be down the Koyukuk River, from Bettles to the 
mouth of Old Man Creek, a few miles V)elow Bergman, thence up Old Man Creek to 
the divi<le leading over to the Tozie River, thence down the Tozie to within 20 miles 
or less from Tanana, wherever good pasturage may be found. 

Rejiorting to sui)erintendent: On reaching the vicinity of Tanana enough men shall 
be left with the herd to keep watch of the same, and the officer in charge or the head 
herder or l)Oth, as they may deem I)est, shall take the otlier men and proceed to the 
home of Rev. J. L. Prevost, inform him as to the whereabouts of the herd and the 
condition of the same, and shall call upon him for such supplies, rations, clothing, 
bedding, camp outfit, etc., as they may require. 

Rations: Three months' rations will be issued at Bettles, and these must last at 
least until the head of the Tozie River is reached. 

In the event of delay in driving the herd, on account of storms or any other unavoid- 
able circumstances, two or three men together with one white man sliall make a trip 
to Mr. Prevost and secure necessary supplies to bring them into winter (|uarters. 

Native apprentices: Charlit Nanekak, John Tumejaluk, Johnny Jnootkak, and 
Peter ( iartield, the present apprentices of the Bettles reindeer herd at Kettles Station, 
shall have a chance of accompanying the herd to the new (juarters and shall remain 
with the herd until they shall be taken care of otherwise by the Bureau of Educa- 
tion. In case either of them should not be able to go on account of sickness, or if 
for any reason they leave the henl and do not wish to accompany it to the new 
grounds, the officer in charge or the head herder shall secure single young men in 
their stead and issue them rations from the supplies left for the man that drops out. 

D. W. Cram, 
/Superintendent Bettles Reindeer Station. 

Leaving Bettles. — Early on the morning of SeptemV)er 3 our boat reached Bettles. 
I met my wife and told her of her summary dismissal by the Bureau of Education, 
without any charge or complaint against her, and with tears in her eyes she told me 
of young peoi)le an<l little children who had g(me hungry in order to Vjuy 2-cent and 
3-cent calico at 25 cents a yard that they might have an apron or a new dress of 
some kind for the opening of school, which sliould have taken place the next day. 
No more pathetic chapter in the annals of tlie natives of America exists than that of 
these natives aV)ove the Arctic Circle longing for a chance to learn to read and write, 
and that withheld from them. 

I aske<l Mrs. Cram to be ready to leave in six hours on this returning boat, while 
I ciosi'd up the business with the company. The Finns came to town and demanded 
their pay. I told them that I had n<jthing to d(j with the case but that they could 
give an order to the Northwestern Commercial Company for their fares to Seattle. 
Six hours for breaking uj) housekeeping was short notice. We could not sell our 
things. About !!540() worth of furniture were left in the house, which I contend the 
Government should pay me for on the ground that the Bureau of Education com- 
pelled Mrs. Cram and me to make this forced move to the States, and also the outfit 
being necessary for our successors there, whenever they might V^e. 

On reaching Fort (iibbon, on my way out, I sent the following message to the 
Secretary of the Interior: 

FoKT GiHuox, Alaska, September 9, 190.5. 
Secketakv ok the Intekiok, 

Waslrinyton, J). C: 
Finn herders, wife,. and self left Bettles September 8. One Lapp arrived Nulato 
after my last telegram to you. Left him in charge herd with three months' supplies. 
En route steamer Sarah, via Daws(jn. 

D. VV. Cram, 
Superintendent Bettles Reindeer Station. 

Two days before this I had received the following message while at Nulato: 

Portland, Oreg., August 28. 
D. W. Cram, Xidato, Alaska: 

Government will allow the three Finns $100 each toward transportation from Bet- 
tles to St. Michael. Do not take over three or five months' ration to Bettles. Hand 
or mail tielegram to Bettles. 

Sheldon Jackson, General Agent. 



106 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA. 

The business management of the Bettles station. — All the arrangements in connection 
with the discounts on Viills, the purchase of supplies for the station, and the purchase 
of the buildings for school purposes were taken care of in the office of the Bureau 
of Education and 1 had nothing to do with them, my instructions from the office of 
the Bureau under date of July 27, 1904, being as follows: 

"When the reindeer arrive in the neighborhood of Bettles you will be expected 
to procure from the Northern Commercial Comi)any their food. " Have the Northern 
Commercial Company send itemized bills duly receipted in duplicate to this office 
(Bureau of Education) for the same and they will be paid at the central office at 
San Francisco." 

Other than the order sent to me on the commanding officer at Fort Gibbon these 
were the only instructions I received with respect to the purchasing of supplies. 

The build inr/s at Bettles. — When Mrs. Cram and I arrived at Bettles we found that 
two log buildings had been purchased by the Government from the Northern Com- 
mercial Company, the larger being 20 by 30 feet, and then in use as a blacksmith 
shop, the smaller being about 14 by 16 feet, one story, and being used as an "oil 
house," there being some eighty or ninety cases of coal oil in storage in this building. 
Since the larger building was the one intended for the schoolhouse all the repairs 
were put on that. It was a story and a half liigh and the rooms upstairs were designed 
as our residence, the general agent of education in Alaska having stated verbally to 
Mrs. Cram and me that the Government would stand the expense of fitting up the 
living rooms. 

New floors were needed in this building, both up stairs and down, and a new roof 
was an absolute necessity; aside from this it would have to be lined with cloth and 
papered upstairs, ceiled downstairs, and chinked and pointed on the outside to make 
it comfortable; two additional half windows were necessary upstairs and one double 
window downstairs. 

I had no written instructions as to the repairs, nor with regard to the amount that 
the Bureau of Education intended to expend putting the building into shape. I did 
not even have a copy of the correspondence leading up to the purchase of the build- 
ing. I accordingly addressed a letter to the Bettles agent of the Northern Commer- 
cial Company, who had negotiated the sale, asking if he had any correspondence 
with the Bureau on that subject, and received the following reply: 

"We are in receipt of your favor of October 4, and beg to reply as follows: The 
only correspondence we have regarding schoolhouses or dwelling for teachers is con- 
tained in a letter from our home office under date of June 14, 1904, in which they 
say: 'Mr. William Hamilton, of the Bureau of Education, is about to make a trip 
up the Yukon Valley for the purpose of establishing schools at such places as he 
thinks require them. Mr. Hamilton is limited to S3, 000 in the erection or purchase 
of schools or dwelling at any one place.' Hoping that the above may cover the 
information that you request, we beg to remain, 
"Yours truly, 

" Northern Commercial Company, 
"Per VoLNEY Richmond, Agent.'''' 

A dirt I'oof in an arctic climate is an absolute necessity to insure a warm house. 
The roof that w'as put on the Bettles schoolhouse consisted of a layer of boards run- 
ning lengthwise the building; thence another layer of boards running from the 
ridge to the eaves; tar paper between these two layers; thence 3 inches of dirt and 
galvanized iron over all. This made a good roof, one that would neither glacier nor 
leak. 

When Mrs. Cram and I met Doctor Jackson in St. Louis in July he said that the 
Government would stand the expense of putting in wliat partitions we would need 
for the living rooms upstairs. When w'e examined the building we found there 
were six partitions upstairs. Three of these we had taken out and the lumber used 
in repairing the building in other parts. We had one window cut in the dining 
room and one cut in the kitchen, a floor laid, and the rooms clothed and papered. 

The building was badly sprung on the south side downstairs where a double door 
had at one time been cut. This was forced back into place with jackscrews and 
spiked solidly to a header, and double windows were placed in the space where the 
double door "had been. The building was ceiled downstairs and a new floor put in 
and the outside of the entire house chinked and pointed. 

Mrs. Cram painted the entire woodwork upstairs and sewed all the house lining 
and I painted the woodwork downstairs. 

The prices for lumber were f^loO and $125 and $175 per thousand. Labor was 
$12.50 and $15 per day. I estimated that it would cost not less than $3,000 to put 
that building in shape for our use. By watchfulness by Mrs. Cram and myself. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 107 

working vvlierever we could do so and save a dollar for the Department, I succeeded 
in bringing the repairs down to |2,314.S2, the material that were used being good 
and the workmanship that of the best. A full explanation of the expenditures of 
this building L forwardi'd to the Bureau of Education under date of October 25, 1904. 

I have never had any written statement from the Bureau of Education as to the 
amount that was paid for the Bettles property, neither have 1 seen any of the cor- 
respondence leading up to the purchase. As 1 have said before the deal for this 
property was made in the office of the Bureau and before I ever went to Bettles. 

I do know that every dollar that was put into the repairing of the building can be 
accounted for in labor and material, both of which was of the best procurable, and 
further, there was not a thing done that was not needed, and the building was in 
good repair when we left Bettles tliis fall. 

The herd ditr'nxj unj absence to cotniimnicate tvitli Washington. — It would not be just 
for me to close this report without referring to the conduct of the herd during my 
absence. I have in another place stated that I left Mi's. Cram to look after the sta- 
tion at Bettles as best she could while I was away at Fort Gibbon. Of course, it 
could not be expected that Mrs. Oram should make journeys to the herd; but both 
herders and apprentices were constantly coming in to town and wanting this thing or 
that tiling, aside from the issuing of the regular monthly rations; all of which she 
had to oversee. 1 was compelled to leave at the very worst part of the year, when 
the big flies and the mosquitoes and the gnats were at their worst, and for that rea- 
son the herd was in greater danger of scattering than at any other time of year. I 
give below a brief outline of a few events that took place during my absence, as taken 
from the notes kept by ]\lrs. Oram. 

On the 28th of July, the day after I left, the herders — Finns — came in for their 
supplies. On the 30th one of the native apprentices came into town and said he was 
going to stay on account of his sick boy whom he had brought to town, expecting 
that in a few days he would die. ilrs. Cram urged him to leave his wife and the boy 
in town and go hack to his work, and if the boy died promising to send for him. At 
first he refused to go back, but finally went. The boy died on August 8, and Mrs. 
Cram sent for the father and assisted in making arrangements for the burial. On 
the 31st two of the apprentices came into town and reported that the herd was all 
right. 

On August 1 two of the apprentices came in for clothing. On August 3 two of the 
Finns came in from the herd, but made no reference to Mrs Cram having sent back 
the apprentice whose boy was sick, i\Irs. Cram having learned that they told the 
apprentice he could stay in town. 

On August ty two of the natives came to town and told ^Irs. Cram that the deer 
were very restless on account of the big flies and harder to watch at night as it was 
beginning to get dark nights. Mrs. Cram thought that under these conditions it 
was best for the herd that another man be on the force, and sent a brother to one 
of the apprentices out to assist in keeping the deer together. On the 12th the same 
two apprentices came in and said that the herd was still very restless. These two 
apprentices secured their rations for the month. 

On August 23 Peter Garfield, one of the apprentices, came to town and told Mrs. 
Cram that Kaisenen and Saara, two of the Finn herders, had gone from the camp to 
luintmoss. They had left the day before, August 22, and had said that they woulil not 
be back for several days. With reference to this Mrs. Cram writes in her notes as fol- 
lows: '• This leaves the five native boys alone with the herd as Jensen is not able 
to be on his feet. They rejiort the deer as being very restless still and its being 
necessary to put three men on the night watch." Mrs. Cram went to the post-office 
at the request of the postmaster and signed for several registered letters for the 
Finns. 

On August 24 one of the apprentices came in and said that the Finns had not yet 
returned from their "moss hunt {?)" and that the herd was scattered a good deal. 
This native also reported that one of the sled deer was injured and al)out to die. 
Mrs. Cram told the native to see that the deer was skinned promjitly, should it die, 
and that the skin was turned in. The native contended that one of the Finn herders 
was going to get that skin; but Mrs. Cram told him that he was not to have it. 
The ap])rentice promised when the deer died to bring in the skin. 

On August 26 three of the native apprentices came in and said that the two Finns 
had returned and that the herd was still very badly scattered, and Mrs. Cram states 
that as far as she could learn there were no steps taken to round u]) the deer. 

In conclusion, I feel that thanks are due to those men of the War Department who 
offered their assistance in furthering our plans for the work of the Bettles station, 
even though those plans did not nuiterialize. It was through no fault of theirs. To 
the Acting Secretary of War, the Hon. Robert Shaw Oliver, who issued the order 
granting the right to purchase supplies at Fort Gibbon; to General Greely, who kindly 



108 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

approved my request for a noncommissioned officer as my relief; to General Williams, 
department commander of the Department of the Columbia and his military secre- 
tary, Colonel Wood, for extending the courtesy of the steamer Jeff C. Thiria, to trans- 
port our supplies from Fort Gibbon to Bettles,"und to Major Stamper, the command- 
ing officer at Fort Gibbon, and to his officers and men — both in Signal Corps and 
Infantry— who showed me many favors during my stay at Nulato and Fort Gibbon, 
to all of these gentlemen I extend my heartiest thanks' 
Respectfully submitted. 

D. W. Cram, 
Teacher United States Public School and Superintendent 

of the Betiles Reindeer Station, Settles, Alaska. 

Washixgton, D. C. December 12, 1906. 

The Commissioner of Education, 

Bureau of Education, Department of the Interior. 



Exhibit B B. 

[The Washington Times, Thursday, December 7, 1905.] 

REINDEER RAISING PROVES SUCCESS — DOCTOR .JACKSON DESCRIBES VENTURE IX ALASKA — 
NOW HAS HEALTHY HERD — THOUSANDS OF CALVES RESULT OF SMALL STOCK WITH 
WHICH GOVERNMENT FARM WAS BEGUN. 

"Eskimo and Reindeer in Alaska" was the subject of a paper read before the 
Anthropological Society of Washington by Dr. Sheldon Jackson, general agent of 
education in Alaska, in the course of which he gave a number of new and interesting 
statements which will appear shortly in his annual report. 

Doctor Jack.son stated that there are now over 11,000 reindeer in Alaska, descend- 
ants of the 160 head purchased in Siberia with $2,000 subscribed by private parties 
and landed in Alaska in 1894. The reindeer, he said, practically doubles in numbers 
every year, over 8,000 calves having been born last spring. There are now over 
twenty-five big reindeer ranches in Alaska, distributed about at as many Govern- 
ment stations, where hundreds of Eskimos have settled and are acciuiring herds 
and learning the art of reindeer keeping. 

The establishment of the reindeer industry in Alaska, he stated, has given rise to 
a new industry in the States. An enterprising firm of ranch outfitters on the Pacific 
coast l:)egan recently the manufacture of reindeer harness, and the ]>rospects, he said, 
are that they will soon be sending large orders of such trappings to Alaska. The 
sort of harness used in Alaska up to the present has been the sort which the 
Lapp teachers, brought over by the (jovernment to teach the Eskimos, have been 
accustomed to in Lapland. 

In his office in the Bureau of Education building Mr. Jackson has samples of the 
old and new harness. He is inclined to think that in years to come the supplying 
of reindeer harness to Alaska will be an important branch of manufacturing in San 
Francisco. 

Speaking of the present status of the reindeer industry in Alaska to a Times reporter. 
Doctor Jackson said : 

"In introducing the reindeer into Alaska I had one very great advantage, which 
I am satisfied has tended more than anything else to the present success of the ven- 
ture, and that was that the Eskimo had a knowledge of the advantages of reindeer 
keeping liefore I or any other white man ever came among them. You see the 
Alaskan natives are acquainted with the Chukches and the Koriaks, on the Asiatic 
or Siberian side of Bering Strait. The Chukches own large herds of reindeer, and in 
the old days, before Alaska l)ecame part and parcel of the United States, the natives 
of all northwestern America and notheastern Siberia used to gather once a year to 
hold a big fair at Kotzebue Inlet, on the America side of the strait. The main 
staple of this fair was reindeer skins. The Eskimos and Indians from the American 
side used to come distances of 590 and 600 miles, to trade various articles for the rein- 
deer skins which the Chuckches and Koriaks from the Siberian side used to bring 
over by the thousands, the product, of course, of their enormous herds of reindeers. 

"The Eskimo and Indians needed these skins for winter clothing, and the Koriaks 
used to sell them at an immense profit for furs, which they disposed of to the Rus- 
sian traders farther inland in Siberia. I have been told that in the old days as many 
as 5,000 people would gather at this fair. It is still held, but, now that the Eskimos 
are raising their own deer, it is falling off, the last having attracted only a few hun- 
dred people." 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 109 

Exhibit C C. 

Washington, D. C, December 7, 1905. 

Dear Sir: Having called several times at the Bureau while visiting here in Wash- 
ington I heard yon were in New Hampshire, but are expected to return in a few 
days. As I must leave to-morrow for California, and in the spring again for Alaska, 
I thought it well worth the trouble writing a few lines to you. 

Yon know how deeply I am interested in the Eskimo, and that I would do any- 
thing in my power to save or diminish the sufferings of that fast disappearing race. 
During my stay in Alaska 1 have come in closer touch with the native than most 
white men, even more so than many of our missionaries. 1 have been with them 
in their igloos, in their skin boats, on snowshoes, on the ice floes of Bering Sea 
hunting the polar bear and whale. I have seen some gruesome sights during the 
epidemic of I8V)9, when whole families and villages were wiped out of existence; 
when among 50 inhabitants but 2 children who were able to walk and bring the 
suffering water; when there was no food to be gotten; dead bodies lying every- 
where, and in one instance, a baV)y lying on its dead mother's breast crying for food. 

I understand you are making your report now. What will the result of it be? 
What will the Government do? Will Congress shut its eyes and stop its ears because 
it is so far away that they can not hear the cry of silent, suffering, human beings? 

I have heard some talk about rations to the Eskimo. I hope you will not con- 
sider this for a minute, for it means making a beggar and a loafer out of him. 

At present, he is by no means a loafer, but a being that has to work hard for his 
living. The region lie inhabits is not the hospitable one of the Tropics, where the 
native needs no dress and the ripe fruit falls in his opened mouth, but he has to 
wrest it from the sea with skill and courage to provide as much as he is able for the 
winter, and during these months of darkness and rigor of the Arctic, he has to fish 
through the ice and take his life in his hands every day on the treacherous floes of 
Bering Sea; he has blizzards to face; and there is no time for playing or loafing; 
and yet he is of most playful, kind, helping, amiable, and loving disposition. 

If most of our summer visitors could take into consideration how he has to make 
his living, the kind of food that he is compelled to eat (I haven't seen one who 
would not prefer the white man's food to his own), its necessarily oily and greasy 
nature, and could see under this grease and filth the heart of the Eskimo, their 
judgment might be different. 

When I asked Doctor Campbell, from St. Lawrence Island, "Well, what do you 
think of the Eskimo now?" he said, "Do you remember what you told me three 
years ago?" I said, "No; I have forgotten." He answered, "You told me 'The 
first six months you will be much taken with him, will like, and do all sorts of 
things for him. The next six months you will change your mind, will be disap- 
pointed, disgusted, and despise him; and then you will change your mind again and 
love him.' This is just what happened with me." 

To sum up in a few lines (it would need a volume to go into details) the causes of 
the extinction of the Eskimo race and its saving, I will mention here a few of the 
main causes: 

1 . Epidemics and sickness in general. 

2. Intermarriage and intercourse of the white man. 
8. Starvation and poverty. 

Remedies for the first cause: Hospitals, education, and sanitary conditions. 

The second: Intermarriage of the whites and immoral intercourse. I think, with- 
out going into details, the Government should study and in a large measure adopt 
the Government of Denmark's policy of dealing with them. Principally this: When 
a white man marries an Eskimo woman he loses his vote and right as a white man, 
is not allowed to leave Alaska, and virtually becomes an Eskimo, because experience 
has taught us that a white man never raises the woman to his level, but degenerates 
to that of the woman. Whisky traffic and immorality must be strictly and heavily 
punished. 

The third cause, starvation and poverty, and, simultaneously with these, insani- 
tary conditions, can be overcome easiest of all, if more people would become familiar 
w'ith the situation. 

Is it not an enigma that we white men go to Alaska and come back with fortunes, 
and yet the native starves? 

We go to a stream, can hundreds of thousands of cases of salmon, and the native 
village near the cannery suffers hunger in the winter, digs up the fish heads thrown 
away from the cannery, and lives on the foul food which you can smell a mile off. 
You can walk along the beach in the spring and see it littered with dead walrus, and 
occasionally a whale carcass, which means tons upon tons of food for the native. 



110 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICK, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

There need Ije no starvation if the native could only Have this food. 

I know of places on the river ui)on which my steamer plies, where with a modern 
fish trap in time of high water, when the saltwater drives the fish into the sloughs 
and lakes, I could catch enough fish in one day to last all the villages around Port 
Clarence all winter. I have been with the Eskimo in the spring when they killed 
five whale in a week, sufficient food and liglit to last them five years if they could 
have saved it. 

The remedy: To give the native a helping hand to keep him from the constant 
point of starvation and enable him to earn his living; to better his condition, to give 
him time to go to school and educate himself, to surround himself with sanitary con- 
ditions, develop his remarkable mechanical skill, etc., is to give him modern imple- 
ments to catch his food at the right time when it is abundant, and then to save it. 
The latter is the mainspring of all, and its remedy might seem ridiculous to many 
who imagine Alaska to be an iceberg; it is — refrigerators. 

What would Nome do during the spring, summer, and fall with its meat without 
a cold storage? Let me give you an illustration: The latter part of May a year ago, 
while out walrus hunting, the natives killed in the course of three-quarters of an hour 
85 walrus. Walrus, as you know, is an animal of which the natives use everything; 
the skin for his boat, the intestines for raincoats, floats for nets, receptacles for oil, 
etc., meat for food, ivory for implements, and, as he is fast becoming a curio maker, 
for curios. 

They loaded their boat to the water's edge, rowed for shore (about 25 miles off), 
started out again and got another load, but before they could go a third time the 
ice floe upon which their prey lay had drifted away. 

When you consider that their largest skin boat will hold but one walrus (weighing 
from 2,000 to 5,000 pounds), you will see how little they saved from the 100 tons of 
food. They generally chop off the heads and take in the skin and more expensive 
parts first. Knowing they can not save the meat, they leave that altogether. This 
is in case of good weather. 

But supposing one of your Indian agents, with a crew of these Eskimo and a small 
tugboat or launch and lighter, had been on the lookout for them, had just helped 
them to put the walrus on the lighter, towed them into shore, and the meat be 
taken into a refrigerator. There would have been sufficient food, skins for boats, 
etc., to last all the Eskimo from Cape Prince of Wales to Golofnin Bay for a year. 

Similar conditions exist in the beforementioned way of fishing in the rivers. 
Alaska is a rich country if you know its ways and resources. Each section of the 
country should have its own superintendent or agent, who, after studying the neces- 
sity of its peculiar conditions, should provide through the (xovernment ways and 
means to help the native catch and save his food. You would be surprised with 
how little expense this could be done and how quick the native would respond, for 
he is quick to see his opportunity. I do not care to go into details, for these could 
be attended to by a committee on ways and means composed of such men as Brevig, 
Campbell, Cambell, Lopp, Marsh, etc. 

You could build a refrigerator out of a double-walled house and have the space 
between the walls filled in with ice every spring. At Cape Prince of Wales with 
f200 for dynamite and drills and with four or five Eskimo I could put up a refrigr 
erator in that frozen mountain that would outlast the Eskimo race. Some difficulty 
might be experienced in finding the right sort of men for agents or superintendents. 

And last, but not least, this would keep the native on his native diet. It has been 
said that the change of food since the advent of the white man has caused much 
sickness, and he is not able to stand the exposure on a couple of doughy flapjacks as 
on seal meat. 

This would keep him to his trade, which has been bred into him through genera- 
tions and which has been an almost unsurmountable obstacle to overcome by the 
reindeer superintendent — to make a herder instead of a fisher or hunter out of him. 
You know better than I what it costs to make farmers out of the hunters among the 
Indians. Thinking of the reindeer question: I don't want to say anything against 
it, because I am glad of any effort put forth to stop death mowing "down the last 
Eskimo, and it has helped many of them to a living and education. In fact, the only 
thing I have against it is that there are not more deer imported, and that it is so 
slow. 

To illustrate: You would take three pair of pigeons and tell me, "Now, I'll lend 
you this three pairs of pigeons, you must endeavor to raise pigeons with them. You 
must return six pairs to me after three years. You must not kill a female; and, in 
the meantime, you must make your living from them. You know they are good 
food; they can be used for dress (your wife can wear the wings in her hat); they are 
good for transportation, especially where there are no telegraph or telephone lines. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SEKVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. Ill 

They breed very fast, and in time you'll have enough to supply the whole meat 
market in Washington; enough for your family, and plenty to sell." 

When I get my first pigeon and the Eskimo his first dose of reindeer, it is just 
about two meals, and we'll have to look for something else to support us or our 
families. 

But, supposing I jealously guard them; they increase fast; I make carriers of them; 
use them in places where the country is thinly settled (in Alaska where there are 
trails or roads nothing can compete with the horse). I can't afford to eat the meat 
myself, but sell it and buy cheaper meat with it. So does the Eskimo. I use the 
feathers for beds and the wings for hat trimmings. The Eskimo uses his for sleep- 
ing bags, and coats, and caps. 

By the time we have this we are pretty old. But I have a mission to fulfill. I 
have to lend some other unfortunate one three pairs of pigeons, and I have to make 
out of my fellow-mechanic and merchant pigeon breeders; when we will all have 
plenty, and live to see it, we'll have all other meats put out of the markets of Wash- 
ington, and will compete with the transportation of messages. 

I saw last year, in the San Francisco Examiner, where some farseeing seer pre- 
dicted the lowering of prices and the breaking of the beef trust by importation of 
Alaska reindeer meat. But if you start me and every other man, or, say, every 
head of a family, with a few hundred pigeons, and granting everyone takes good care 
of them, there might be soon enough pigeons flying around in Washington that 
Congress could see them. 

In case your report should become public property, would you kindly send me one? 
Very respectfully, 

F. Kleixschmidt. 

Hon. Frank C. Churchill, 

Special Agent, Department of the Interior. 



SECOND SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT. 

February 15, 1906. 

Sir : I have the honor to inform you that in continuing nw investi- 
gation under your verbal and written instructions, I am compelled to 
hold in the main to the conclusions reached in my general report, 
now in your hands, concerning the management of schools and rein- 
deer affairs in Alaska. 

In most respects these further incjuiries tend to strengthen and con- 
firm the original findings in the case. 

Wliile the Commissioner of Education admits his responsibility for 
the administration of the Alaska division of his Bureau, it is true, 
as you are already aware, that Dr. Sheldon Jackson has dominatecl 
the work, and I have just discovered that he is still in the pay of the 
Presbyterian Board of Home Missions to the amount of $500 per year, 
as shown by exhibit 3. 

I believe I am correct in the opinion that it has never been clearly 
understood by those in immediate charge of the schools and reindeer 
herds that the Alaska division is not a sort of eleemosynary institu- 
tion, nor that anj^thing deemed wdse in administration from the view- 
point of the missionary was not warranted in fact. What is com- 
monly known as the '' missionary spirit " has evidently been the 
underljang principle which has governed the acts of Doctor Jack- 
son; therefore I need not dwell upon the line of arguments that are 
made in support of his management. 

ST. LAWRENCE ISLAND. 

It was shown in my original report that a loan of TO reindeer was 
made to an imaginary mission on St. Lawrence Island five years ago, 
also that the reports of the Bureau credited the natural increase of the 
herd to that imaginary mission. 

Conmiissioner Harris expresses himself as mortified over my ex- 
posure that there is no mission on St. Lawrence Island, but shows that 
no real harm has been done, as the whole transaction was purely a 
matter of bookkeej^ing, and that the deer will hereafter be carried on 
the record as the property of the United States. The only explana- 
tion offered by the commissioner for Doctor Jackson's acts in the 
premises is that they thought the Presbj'terian board would establish 
a mission on the island. Concerning the ownership of the buildings 
there, which has already been discussed in previous reports, I am now 
satisfied that the Presbyterian board paid the Episcopal board of 
Philadelphia the sum of $2,000 toward the buildings, this sum having 
been begged by Doctor Jackson for that purpose of two charitable 
ladies in New York City. The Episcopal board of Philadelphia was 
paid $1,000 as a subsidy from the Government to establish a mission 
there, which they never did. 
112 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 113 

CAPE PRINCE or AVALES. 

Year after year the official reports of Doctor Jackson have shown 
that the American INIissionary Association (Congregationalist) had a 
loan of 118 reindeer at their mission at Cape Prince of Wales, but 
it seems there came a time when a settlement was made for deer taken 
for the relief expedition to Point Barrow^, when Commissioner Harris 
demanded an explanation as to the real ownership of the deer taken 
at that place, when he became satisfied that the deer originally placed 
there were a " gift.'- The only explanation that I can get for this 
transaction is that " Captain Healj-, of the U. S. revenue cutter Bear^ 
who had been instrumental in importing deer from Siberia, said that 
this mission should be given a herd of deer." Captain Healy is now 
deceased, and whether or not he advised a gift of Government prop- 
erty, or whether he meant that they shoulcl receive as a loan a herd 
of deer for the benefit of the natives, can never be determined. 

]\[r. W. T. Lopp, who then represented the mission, says emphat- 
ically that the deer were a gift, and Doctor Jackson doubtless used the 
word " give " when the deer were assigned to that mission, which, 
being done without an agreement that the mission should return a 
like number, left the question more or less in dispute, and it is now 
apparent that the mission, through Mr. Lopp, interpreted w^hat might 
have been intended as a loan, as a gift outright. I have had frequent 
conversation Avith Mr. Lopp on this subject and he insists that there 
Avas no room for misunderstanding at the time, and as already men- 
tioned, affirms in the strongest manner that the deer were turned over 
as a present to the mission with no agreement made or implied that 
any return should be made. 

This much can be said, howeA^er: Nowhere in Alaska haA^e the na- 
tiA^es made better use of reindeer or receiA^ed more real benefits from 
them than at Cape Prince of Wales. Mr. Lopp was a good manager 
and under his management the Eskimos improA^ed greatly, especially 
in appreciation of the A'alue to them of the deer. It can be said fur- 
ther that the Congregationalists haA'e been to considerable expense 
in supporting their mission, and I think it is true that assuming that 
the Government would haA^e done as much for the natives, the giving 
aAvay of 118 deer Avas a good trade, but neA^ertheless the doctrine 
remained that the whole thing was irregular and the transaction un- 
AA-arranted. In the first instance, it may not haA'e been the intention 
of Doctor Jackson to giA'e away GoA^ernment property nor for the 
American Missionary Association to receiA^e knoAvingly Governnieni 
property without authority of laAv, but the whole thing is an illus- 
tration of a slipshod method of encouraging a mission, and where in 
the absence of an agreement the mission could stand on the fact that 
thev had expended more at the mission than the value of the deer. 
It is noAV admitted, reluctantly, as Doctor Harris says, that the deer 
AA-ere a gift, and the fact remains that the mission is in a way to do 
very Avell in the deer industry. 

POINT BARROAV. 

Under the head of Point Barrow, I called attention in my original 
report to the serAnce at that place of Rev. S. R. Spriggs, who was 
draAA'ing salary of $1,500 as teacher, while Rev. J. H. Kilbuck was 

S. Doc. 483, 59-1 S 



114 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA. 

performing the duties and also receiving a salary of $1,500 per year. 
Mr. Kilbuck can hardly be blamed for this arrangement, for he was 
sent to the Arctic to teach a school at WainAvright and did not ascer- 
tain, until it was too late to go elsewhere, that even the lumber for 
the proposed schoolhouse at that place had not arrived. I brought 
this matter of two salaries to the notice of the Commissioner of Edu- 
cation, Avho immediately called upon Doctor Jackson for an explana- 
tion. Doctor Jackson replied that "" Spriggs has resigned," but as I 
saw Reverend Mr. Spriggs at Point Barrow August 1, 1905, when he 
informed me that he was being paid by the Government, I tele- 
graphed Mr, H. C. Olin, treasurer of the Presbyterian board in New 
York, to know if Mr. Spriggs was in their employ and when his serv- 
ice commenced, and also asked the Commissioner of Education, in 
writing, to send me a copy of Mr. Spriggs's resignation and the cor- 
responded on the subject. Treasurer Olin answered that Mr. 
Spriggs was put on their pay roll April 1. 1905, and my letter to the 
Commissioner brought an extract from a letter of Mr. Spriggs to 
Doctor Jackson, dated August 10, 1905, together with a telegram from 
Mr, C. L. Thompson, secretary of the Presbyterian board, to Doctor 
Jackson, giving the Bureau the same information, thus showing that 
to ansAver my question as to the status of Mr. Spriggs they were de- 
l^endent upon the Presbyterian board rather than their own record 
for the facts. 

All the papers on the subject are transmitted herewith as Exhibit 1. 

It Avould probably be unjust to accuse any person of trying to keep 
Mr. Spriggs on the Government pay roll unduly, but no one Avill 
dispute the remarkable state of things as to management when it is 
admitted that on August 1 Mr. Spriggs did not knoAv that for four 
months he had been at Avork for the Presbyterian board instead of 
the Government, especially Avhen a representative of the Bureau Avas 
at Point BarroAv Avith nie at that time clothed with considerable 
authority in making arrangements in behalf of the Bureau; and still 
more remarkable from a business standpoint that in the end Doctor 
Jackson had to make inquiry in NeAv York Avhen one of the employees 
of the Bureau quit the public serAdce. 

Had the Bureau been equipped with a suitable register, say like 
Exhibit 2, this woeful lack of information could hardly have occurred. 
On inquiry at the Treasury Department, I find that ]\Ir. Spriggs has 
been paid by the GoA^ernment up to March 31, 1905. 

GENERAL AGENT OF EDUCATION IN ALASKA. 

As to the arrangement for Doctor Jackson's salarv up to 1897, 
whereby $1,200 Avas paid by the United States and $1,200 by the 
Presbyterian board each year. Commissioner Harris explains that 
this is a part of the old subsidy plan through Avhich at one time the 
Government aided Indian schools, so that up to the year mentioned 
Doctor Jackson, Avhile acting as general agent of education in Alaska, 
Avas evidently a subsidized agent of the Presbyterian Board of Mis- 
sions, Avith headquarters in XeAv York City. As already mentioned, 
this was changed in 1897, and I haA^e been lead' to belicA'C that Avhen 
Doctor Jackson's salary was made $2,500, all of which was i:)aid by 
the United States, he Avas wholly in the employ of the Government ; 
but it now appears that the Presbyterian board has been paying him 
$500 a year, presumably for value received or services rendered. 



EDUCATIONAL AXD SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 115 

I do not feel called upon to comment further upon this matter 
beyond saying that if it is proper for one incorporated body to pri- 
vately pay an officer of the Government $500 per year, when that 
officer is so closely allied with their business, as is true in this case, 
I see no reason why any other corporation might not with propriety 
do the same thing. All papers that have come into my hands relative 
to this subject are transmitted as Exhibit 3. 

WANT OF PROPER CONTRACTS. 

In previous reports, and particularly by exhibits therein — F, G, H, 
I, J, K, L, M, N, O, and P — I have shown that so far as the Bureau 
has placed them in evidence there are no binding contracts with the 
missions that have received loans of reindeer, the deer being by vir- 
tue of such loan put beyond the direct control of the Government, 
excepting onh^ that the missions are oljligated to return a like num- 
ber of deer at the end of five years. 

It has been explained to me that there was alwaj^s an " understand- 
ing that the missionaries were to feed and clothe the necessary ap- 
prentices, herders, etc.," and the argument offered is that this plan 
relieves the Government of great expense. This all sounds plausible, 
with the exception of that part where missions are supposed to assume 
outlays of monej' that would otherwise be paid by the Government. 

The loaning system would not be so objectionable if properl}^ safe- 
guarded by well-defined contracts and stipulations that all things 
supposed to be "" the understanding " shall be actually done and per- 
formed, but even then it sets up the mission in the reindeer industry 
in competition with the natives and the Government. At this time 
the theories offered that the missions only are qualified to determine 
suitable persons for herders is too absurd to notice. 

As a class the Alaskan natives are not yet sufficiently advanced in 
our civilization to discriminate between the value of the friendship 
and advice of an unscrupulous whaler and a missionary, so long as 
both parties will provide food to satisfy hunger, and I reiterate that 
in the i)resent state of the natives food, clothing, and doctors, and the 
good example of strong and honest men are the most potent and 
valuable elements for bettering their condition. Teachers of our 
language who will instruct the natives in reading and writing and the 
elements of arithmetic and at the same time superintend the manage- 
ment of the deer as a part of their industrial training are about all 
the Government should be asked or expected to provide. This means, 
as a matter of course, appropriations by Congress from time to time. 

LOW PER CAPITA COST. 

I gladly give place to the claim of Doctor Harris, that the schools 
in Alaska have been conducted with very small outlays per capita 
compared with those under the management of the Indian Office. 
This claim, however, should not be understood as being in harmony 
with my own opinion on the subject, and for numerous reasons. 
First of all, the quality of service rendered can not be comf)ared with 
that of our Indian schools; another phase, too, merits attention, 
which is that the Bureau evidently bases its figures upon the enroll- 
ment basis instead of upon the average attendance of pupils. To 



IIG EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC.^ IN ALASKA. 

figure from the number enrolled is misleading- and in this ease unfair. 
To illustrate, I find on page 29 of Doctor Harris's report for 1905 
that the Bureau maintained a school at Wainwright for nine months 
Avith Go pupils. The fact is there Avas no school at Wainwright until 
September 1, 1905, and the total population there does not exceed 40 
jDersons, and there are numerous instances where the average daily 
attendance is but a small part of the number enrolled. 

The excuse will always be present that Alaska being so inaccess- 
ible it is impossible to keep in touch with the details, and the reason 
is a very good one, but is not sufficient for putting into official reports 
as accomplished certain plans that are in fact only contemplated. 
Commissioner Harris has submitted to me a communication em- 
bodj'ing his views on the general subject, which is respectfully for- 
warded for your consideration as Exhibit 4. 

TENDENCY TO MISLEAD THE PUBLIC. 

For some reason there appears to be an inclination to give out 
erroneous reports concerning the great success of the reindeer in- 
dustry. In a former report I touched on this subject, saying that 
the reindeer business needs no bolstering up, and I have also trans- 
mitted with a former report a clipping from the Washington Times 
calculated to give a false impression. Since then Hon. Henry M, 
Baker, an ex-member of Congress, has told me that Doctor Jackson 
informed him not long since that there were 18,000 reindeer in 
Alaska, which is nearly twice as many as his own official reports 
indicate, the total number being onlv a little over 10,000. I forward 
herewith, as Exhibit 5, a clipping from the Washington Post of 
January 30, 1900, concerning the loss of the schooner Lanra Madsen^ 
which tends to show to the public that the Alaska division of the 
Bureau of Education has been operating ships, five of which have 
been crushed in the ice of the Arctic Ocean. 

CONCLUSION. 

In conclusion, I respectfully submit that I have endeavored to 
make my investigations sufficiently exhaustive to give you a correct 
view of the situation, with appropriate exhibits where the same seem 
to be necessary. While I feel certain that the Department will see 
much to perplex and annoy, I believe with complete reorganization 
the Alaska schools and reindeer herds can be continued without 
serious disruption. A strong head is needed to oversee the entire 
business, and even such a man will for a time meet many exasperat- 
ing questions, which can not be fully solved until all is systematized. 
■ I can not believe Doctor Jackson to be dishonest or intentionally 
guilty of malfeasance, but his zeal in the work of the church, his 
somewhat arbitrary disposition, coupled with what is commonly 
known as vanity, have brought enemies here and there who have made 
insinuations against him that in many instances are false. In all 
kindness I must say that I doubt if even now he has a fine sense of 
discrimination between the funds contributed through the agencies 
of the missionary boards and public funds a impropriated by Congress, 
so long as in his opinion the entire amount is disbursed to carry out 
his views in dealing with the natives of Alaska. I have been in- 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 117 

formed by friends of Doctor Jackson that his heahh is far from 
good, and that possibly his judgment has in consequence been im- 
paired. 

I have the honor to be, yours, very respectfully, 

Frank C. Churchill, 



Hon. E. A. Hitchcock, 

Secretary of the Interior, Washington, D. G. 



Special Agent. 



Exhibit 1. 
[Telegram.] 



Interior Department, 
Washivgton, January 22, 1906. 
H. C. Olin, 'So. 156 Fifth arciiue, yew York: 

Please state if Rev. S. R. Spriggs is in your employ at Point Barrow, Alaska, 
?ncl when his service commenced. 

Churchill, Special Agent. 



[Telegram.] 

New York, -Tannary 2.'i, 1906. 
Frank C. Churchill, Washington, D. C: 
Am writing to -dav in replv vour wire 22d. 

H. C. Olin. 



[Telegram.] 



Education Office, 

.January 26, 1906. 



Dr. Charles Thompson, 

Home Missions, 156 Fifth avenue. Netc York City: 
Telegraph date when Spriggs, Point Barrow, was placed on your roll. 

Sheldon .Jackson, General Agent. 



[Telegram. 1 

New York, .January 26, 1906. 
Rev. Sheldon Jackson. 

Department of the Jnterior, Bureau of Education: 

Spriggs commissioned April 1, 190.5. Letter follows. 

C. L. Thompson. 



The Board of Home Missions of the 
Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, 

156 Fifth avenue, yew York, .January 23. 1906. 
Frank C. Churchill. Esq., Washington, D. C. 

Dear Sir : Your telegram of the 22d came to hand on yesterday. Owing to 
great pressure of other matters. I was unable to answer you until this nxorning, 
which I did as follows : "Am writing to-day in reply your wire 22d." 

I now beg to say that our records show that Dr. H. R. Marsh, our missionary 
at Point Barrow, left there in the fall of 1904. :Mr. Spriggs then carried on his 
own school work and so much of the missionary work as he was able to do in 
addition to his school work. 

Our correspondence shows it was expected that a medical missionary would be 
sent in by the Interior Department, and that the Government work would all 
be put in his hands. Consequently it was planned that Mr. Spriggs should 
become the missionary of this board at that time. 



118 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

No Government representative being sent in, as anticipated, until July, 1905, 
Mr. Spriggs continued his work under Government as previously. He was, 
however, commissioned as the missionary of this board to date from April 1, 
1905, carrying on, we presume, both his Government and missionary work 
during the time between April 1 and July as best he could, under commission, 
however, as I liave said above, and under salary of this board from April 1. 

You. of course, realize, as we do, the difficulty in making definite arrangements 
with represeutati\es so far away from the home office, the contingencies in- 
volved in the great distance making it somewhat hard to enter upon definite 
plans with exactness. 

Trusting that the condition of things has been made clear, I am, 
Very truly, yours, 

H. C. Olin, Treasurer. 



Point Barrow, August 12, 189S. 

]My Dear Friend : I wrote my report and sent it in the regular mail some 
time ago. Captain Tuttle turned over to me 391 deer and the equipment of the 
herd. If Oyello don't come up, I can't tell what kind of a herd we will have 
next year. Captain Tuttle gave me provisions enough to give the herders a 
little less each month than the same class gets each week at the Government 
station, so to make any sort of an agreement I will have to turn in every 
pound of my personal trade goods. Inasmuch as no instructions have come 
for anyone, I have made contracts with the herders as well as I could under 
the conditions and as nearly like Unalakleet as possible : but in that the pro- 
visions will be scarce and skins more so. I have had to agree to give more deer 
at the end of three years' service than otherwise. 

To avoid killing any deer, or at least as few as possible, I shall hire four 
natives to work for me as hunters to get seal. fish, wild deer, and whale meat. 

Since the board expressly stated that they would be under no money re- 
sponsiiiility for the herd, it seems to devolve upon me to support the whole busi- 
ness myself. If that is the case. I shall certainly make a vigorous attempt to 
pay myself from the herd. 

To this end I have hired all the men on a cooperative scheme, the men at the 
herd to get just the same as the hunters. 

The women will tiirn the sealskins into boots. The bone will be turned into 
trade, and what extra skins we can buy I will also sell. Then after all expenses 
are paid divide the profits with the entire band. I wish you would also send 
me advice about the glue industry. 

If the deer are ever to pay the natives, they must have some one to act as 
their agent. I believe, instead of their selling to the traders ; so I am trying this 
cooperative arrangement. 

As to whaling. I feel this way : In a whaie there is food for a good many peo- 
ple a good while, and to keep the natives from getting this food would be a 
sinful waste, because it would have to be bought if not hunted. I will not 
buy a pound of whalebone as long as I stay here, no matter what anyone says 
I do. but I will sell for my own employees their bone and give them the entire 
proceeds, pro rata, as their contract reads. This, I know, will make Mr. 
Brown feel worse than anything else I could do. He has said he will do all 
in his power to get me out of here, and I don't doubt it. It only remains for 
you to back me up. I have waded in up to my depth, and am willing to fight 
as long as I am allowed to. I have told the women who live at the station 
that they are sinning to live with a white man if not married to him legally. 
Now. of course that stirred up a big rumpus. 

Then I tried to get Captain Sherman's woman to leave him — rumpus No. 2. 

Then they tried to steal half a whale from natives, and I told the natives 
to give it up — No. 3. I bought a lot of whaling gear to trade — No. 4. So you 
see in the eyes of tlie trader, who has the interests of the trader so much at 
heart, I am a dangerous maij to have around. 

But if you and the board sustain me I will fight it out. with God's help, if it 
takes my life. These traders ran an open house of prostitution this winter, 
and every officer but one of the shipwrecked men had his " squaw." Now, I 
don't believe in going into war with the devil with kid gloves on : if that is a 
sin in New York it is up here, and I am here to fight sin. Every man who 
works for me has to sign an agreement to keep wife and children (girls) ofF 
the boats and away from white men and natives, too. and to give up all native 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 119 

quackeries : one default deprives the man even of the pay due him. For 
instance, after two and a half years' service at the herd, if he allows his wife 
to be used, he will get no deer. I can't take away the food and clothes he has 
used. At any rate I will not allow any halfway business. 

You can be perfectly sure that I will not put myself in any position so that 
I am breaking any rules of the Department or known laws, but I shall not 
hesitate to do all in my power to help these people to get out of these traders' 
power. The slaves of the South were better cared for than these people who 
work for the trader. 

Now, Mr. .Jarvis believes that the word of Brower is a little stronger than 
anybody else on earth, but I know ^^•hat I am speaking about and can prove it 
to anyone not prejudiced. 

I have written to Doctor Thompson to ask if it will not be possible to put 
me under the board and send another man and wife up here by the Govern- 
ment. It will not be possible for me to do the work that ought to be done here 
alone. The deer can not be kept closer than ?>0 miles on account of the moss, 
and with inexperienced herders I must go there often. Then I ought to preach 
at Point Barrow. Erknevik, and Sinrah. This I can not do and teach school 
five days a \^■eek. Can't you get Mrs. Shenard to support me and then send up 
a Government teacher for the school? We would both be busy all the time. 
I don't think I will have to kill any deer for food, but I am pretty sure I will 
have to kill a few for skins. They are extra scarce this sunnuer. and I doubt if 
I can get enough to clothe the herders. 

Since Mr. Stevenson did not come up this year, I have written Doctor 
Thompson for enough lumber to convert the storehouse into a church and 
school. The schoolroom is large enough for a storehouse and not half large 
enough for a church. This will save lumber and unnecessary expense. 

If you think kindly of my suggestion to make me missionary and send an- 
other teacher. I wish to recommend to you Mr. Richard Dickinson, of Chicago, 
5511 Washington avenue. Both he and wife are graduates of the University of 
Illinois and especial friends of mine. Both were veiT much interested in 
missions while at college, and I feel that were they asked to come here they 
would. 

They are Congregationalists, but as a Government teacher that would not 
make any difference. 

I have written to them preparing them for a letter from you. if you see fit. 
That would settle the company question for Mrs. Marsh and be a little for me, 
too. 

Sincerely, H. R. Marsh. 

Dr. Sheldon J.\ckson. 



Barrow, Alaska Aitfjust 10. 1905. 
My Dear Doctor Jackson: I am very sorry that Mr. and Mrs. Kilbuck are 
going to leave us for St. Lawrence Island. They have been very companionable 
helpers. We had hoped that at the most they wo\dd be no farther away than 
Wainwright. When Mr. Hamilton was here, as there was no one, so far as 
he knew, coming to teach, he left everything in my charge. The next day in 
came a belated whaler, the Belvedere, bring Mr. Derb.v to teach the school 
this winter. He had not seen Doctor Hamilton and Doctor Hamilton knew 
nothing 'of him. I shall retain charge of the reindeer, however, the same as 
before, for. as Mr. Derby is a new man, it is better that I should continue in 
charge of them. I received a letter, too, from Doctor Thompson, of the board, 
appointing me their missionary here. However, as there was no one c<)ming 
here it was evident that I was to teach and manage the deer herd, so continuing 
under Government employ. So I would have written to Doctor Thompson had 
not Mr. Derby appeared. Now, however, I have written him accepting the 
appointment. If you have anything different you had better confer with 
Doctor Thompson. I will continue to care for the deer, if you wish it, and 
willingly. I consider it advantageous for some one well acquainted with the 
conditions existing here to direct them. 

Very respectfully, yours, S. R. Spriggs. 

Dr. Sheldon Jackson, Wasliiugton, D. C. 



120 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

Department of the Interior. 
Bureau of Education, Alaska Division, 

Washi)i(;ton, D. C, January 19, 1906. 

Sir: In accordance with your verbal request for information concerning the 
Rev. Samuel U. Spriggs, for four years and nine months an employee of this 
office at Barrow, Alaska, I would state that I have no information with regard 
to Mr. Spriggs previous to his entering the Theological Seminarv at Princeton, 
N. J. 

At the close of that course, in the spring of 1808 or 1899. he graduated with 
honor and the esteem of both the faculty and students, a number of whom gave 
me waim expressions of their personal feelings toward him. At the close of 
his seminary course he married and accepted an api)ointment from this office 
as teacher at Point Barrow, Alaska. ,5° latitude north of the Arctic Circle, at 
.$inu a month. 

Perhaps it might be said at this point, to show that Mr. Spriggs in accepting 
this work was not influenced Ity any mercenary spirit, that the .$900 salary was 
expected to provide him with a house to shelter his family ; provide him' with 
provisions, A\hich cost on an average of three or four times as much as in the 
States: and furnish him with fuel, where the winter is ten months long, and 
in the severest part of it the thermometer is 60° below zero, and coal at $40 
per ton. How he ever made ends meet is a marvel. The probabilities are that 
he did not, for the following two years — to wit. from .July, 1900, to .June, 1901, 
and from 1901 to June. 1902 — he was paid an increased salary of $1,200 for 
each of those two years. 

During the year from July, 1901, to June, 1902, Dr. H. Richmond Marsh, who 
was a Presbyterian missionary at that point, returned to the States for a vaca- 
tion, and I\Ir. Spriggs assumed the work of both Doctor :Marsh and himself. 
Doctor Marsh had been in charge of the Government reindeer herd at Barrow, 
and upon his departure the care of the reindeer devolved upon Mr. Spriggs. 
In addition to the care of the reindeer, it devolved upon Mr. Spriggs to give- the 
regular attention to the school that was necessary, and this office employed 
Mrs. Spriggs as an assistant teacher for that year, giving her a salary of $1,000 
for ten months' teaching. In the summer of 1902 Doctor Marsh returned to the 
station, and Mr. and Mrs. Spriggs came East for a vacation and rest. 

As Mr. Spriggs's salary of $1,200 per annum was not found to be sufficient for 
the extraordinary expenses of so isolated and inaccessible a station, it was 
laised to $1,500 a year, and he was paid at that rate from July 1. 190a. to March 
31. 1905, when he resigned from the Government employ and took employment 
from the missionary board of the Presbyterian Church at $l,5(i0 a year and a 
residence, taking charge of the missionary work of the churcli and caring for 
the sick, and at the same time continued his oversight of the Government rein- 
deer herd without expense to the Government. 

In the sununer of 1905 ]Mr. (and Mrs.) John H. Kilbuck. who had served 
twelve or more years as teacher and missionary among the Eskimos of the 
Kuskokwim Valley, was secured by the Government and employed to take 
charge of a new reindeer station at Wainwright. both teaching a school of 
native children and supervising a reindeer hei'd in the neighborhood. Owing 
to the unusual ice condition in 1904. the schooner which had been chartered to 
carry lumber for the new teacher's residence at Wainwright failed to reach 
the place in time to erect the building that season ; consequently Mr. and Mrs. 
Kilbuck were compelled to spend the winter at Barrow, which afforded the 
only shelter they could secure for hundreds of miles around. 

With the presence of Mr. Kilbuck at Barrow Mr. Spriggs turned the day 
school over to ^Ir. Killmck. while he gave special attention to the Government 
reindeer herd and the care of the sick natives until he left the Government 
service in 190.5. The building at Wainwright having in the meantime been 
erected. Mr. and Mrs. Kilbuck, as expected, moved to Wainwright. their original 
location, and a IMr. V. L. Derby, who h:id taught school the previous winter at 
St. Michael accei)tably, was transferred to Barrow to take charge of that school. 

The present situation at Barrow, therefore, so far as this office is informed, is 
that Mr. Spriggs is there in the employ of the Presbyterian Board of Home 
^Missions, caring for their work, and Mr. Derby is there in the employ of the 
Bureau of Education, looking after the school, with Mr. and ]\Irs. Kilbuck, 100 
miles south at Wainwright, in the employ of the Government, teaching school 
and supervising the reindeer at that point. 

In the year 1904. when through the efforts of this ofBce the Post-Office Depart- 
ment created a post-office route between Kotzebue and Barrow, to enable this 



EDUCATIOXAL AXD SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 



121 



office to have comiininieatioii with its schools at Barrow and Wainwright. the 
Post-Office Departmeut advertised for bids for carrying the mail. The route 
being for 750 miles north of the Arctic through a practically unknown counti'y, 
without road or trail, two round trips each winter, there was but one bid received, 
and that was the bid of Mr. Spriggs, who made it in order to secure for himself 
and family communication with their friends and with the Bureau of Education, 
in whose emploj- he was at that time. For 3.000 miles of winter travel over a 
trackless wilderness during the arctic night he received but .$1,500. Any person 
conversant with the expense of winter travel in Alaska will readily perceive 
that there was no margin of profit left to the contractor, the whole amount being 
consumed in the payment of the Eskimo men that carried the mail and other inci- 
dental expenses. 

The wish and expectation was that the mail should be carried exclusively 
with reindeer, but it was found by experience that requiring one team of rein- 
deer to make 1.500 miles without relays was too much, and the result was that 
about half of the trips have been made with dogs, the relays of dogs which could 
be secured at the various Eskimo villages along the route. To make that route 
a success it will be necessary to so distribute the herds of reindeer in that 
region that relays of deer can be had about every 100 to 150 miles. 

The record of the Point Barrow schools during Mr. Spriggs's employment is as 
follows : 





Year. 


Pupils 
enrolled. 


Year. 


Pupils 
enrolled . 


1900 




82 

Ill 

80 


1903 (nosehool) ' 


1901 

1902 


1904. __ _ 

1905 . .. 


100 
76 









I might add further that Mr. Spriggs has done valuable work incidentally 
during his sojourn in these five years in the Arctic by compiling a grammar and 
lexicon of the Eskimo language as spoken in that section. 
All of which is respectfully submitted. 

Sheldon Jackson. 
Hon. W. T. Harris, 

Commissioner of Education. 



Exhibit 2. 
Record of employees at school, at 



1905. 





Authorized 
position. 


Com- 
pensa- 
tion. 


Date of ap- 
proval. 


File 
mark. 


Commence- 
ment of 
service. 


Termina- 
tion of 
service. 


File 
mark. 


Date of ap- 
proval. 


Name. 


s 

% 

a 

1 


+3 

a 

r 


4 


>> 

& 


1 


1 

a 


i 


a 
o 


>> 

a 




5 


Q 


i 


a 




1 




i 











































1 


be 

< 


Single, 
mar- 
ried, or 
wid- 
owed. 


Birthplace. 


Legal resi- 
dence. 


Previous 
occupation. 


Date of orig- 
inal appoint- 
ment. 


Resigned, 
transferred, 
or dismissed. 


Re- 


M 

^ 


State. 


Cong, 
dist. 


marks. 

























122 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA, 

ExHmiT 3. 

January 31, 1906. 
Sheldon Jackson's connection with the Government schools in Alaska. 

Doctor Jackson commenced his duties of United States general agent of 
education in Alaska on April 11, 188.5 (see Official Register of Department 
for 1903, p. 193), the salai-y being paid in part by the Bureau of Education, 
namely, in the sum of .$1,200 per annum, it being presumed that the Presby- 
terian Board of Foreign Missions would furnish the other part of the salary. 
This was in the commissionership of Gen. John Eaton. 

Inasmuch as the flr.st efforts on the part of the United States to promote 
education in Alaska was begun and continued for many years in the form of 
subsidizing the religious missions in Alaska, and the Presbyterians had a 
number of missions in southeast Alaska, it was certainly economical, and it 
was thought proper that the supervisor on the part of the Presbyterian Boai'd 
of Foreign Missions should join with his duties the supervising of the schools 
on the part of the Government. 

The course in the Alaska schools followed the course pursued with the 
education of the Indians in the several Territories, namely, the subsidizing of 
missionary efforts. 

Doctor Jackson's connection with education in Alaska has continued from 
1885 to date, first under Commissioner Eaton, secondly under the commis- 
sionership of Colonel Dawson, then under the commissionership of the under- 
signed (W. T. Harris, who began his duties on September 12, 1889). 

In the years 1892 and 1893 the Government was in process of changing its 
plan of managing Indian schools ; this continued the plan of subsidizing religi- 
ous societies and made more ample provision for public schools. The Com- 
missioner of Education adopted the policy as nearly as possible in the schools 
in Alaska. The change consisted in taking over the schools at the several 
missions and furnishing Government teachers and paying them directl.y from 
the United States Treasui'y, and ceasing all subsidy to the missions for such 
educational work or other work as they accomplished. 

The Bureau of Education began to build school buildings of its own at a con- 
venient distance from the mission schools. Tb.is process of change was com- 
pleted as soon as the corresponding changes were completed in the schools 
under the department of Indian Affairs. 

After two or three years the missions, feeling that Doctor .Jackson's services 
were now entirely devoted to schools which the Government established and 
managed, proposed to him to discontinue the portion of his salary that had pre- 
viously been assumed by the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, expecting 
that he would apply to the Government for an increase of salary corresponding. 
This led to the correspondence on the part of the Commissioner, first, under date 
of January 11, 1897, and secondly, December 31, 1897. in communications ad- 
dressed to the honorable the Secretary of the Interior, by which the Govern- 
ment practically subsidized the church Ijy paying n portion of Sheldon Jackson's 
salary directl.y to him and diminishing by that amount the salary originally 
])aid by them "of .$2,400. 

The Commissioner now proposed that the entire salary should be paid from 
the fund for the support of schools in Alaska. 

Herewith are inclosed the reply of Secretary D. R. Francis, under date of 
July 22, 1897, approving the increase of the salary from .$1,200 to .$2,000 a year, 
beginning January 1, 1897. As this did not assume the entire salary of Doctor 
Jackson, further communication was sent to the Secretary by the Commissioner 
of Education, under date of December 21, 1897, explaining the matter again, 
and on the plea that his salary at $2,000 was not sufficient, the Commissioner 
asked for an increase of the salai-y to $3,000 to meet not only the expenses of 
living in Washington, but also to meet certain extraordinary expenses which are 
inseparable in traveling in Government service and not provided for in cus- 
tomary allowances of the Treasury for transportation and subsistence. 

In reply to this communication the honorable Secretary of the Interior, C. M. 
Bliss, replied under date of January 3, 1898, approving an addition of $500 a 
year to the present salary, but not feeling justified in approving an increase to 
^3,000. The salary of $2,.500 was accordingly fixed to take effect January 1, 
1898. 

This salary of .$2,.500 has been paid to Doctor .Jackson since this time. I learn, 
however, from him that the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions allows him 
$500 per annum for advice given them as to the management of their missions 



EDUCATIOlSrAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 123 

in the Northwest. I do not understand, however, that this is in the nature of a 
supplementary salary to make up the salary of the Government, but it is a pay- 
ment made by that board for services in the ^\■ay of advice as to the manaj;ement 
of their missions. Doctor Jackson having been in the service of that board from 
1858 up to 1885. and having founded all the missions of that board west of the 
Mississippi River in that period ; and thereafter, partly under the United States 
Government and still in charge of the western missions from 1885 to 1898, or 
thereabouts. 

I call attention also to an earlier application, and soon after the assumption of 
the duty of United States agent of education in Alaska, said communication hav- 
ing the date of May 14. 1887. in which is mentioned the proposition of the Presby- 
terian Board of Foreign Missions to discontinue their appropriation, and asking 
consent of the Secretary of the Interior to make the salary of the general agent 
$2,400 per annum. The rejily to said communication being addressed to the 
then Commissioner of Education, N. H. R. Dawson, who replies in the letter 
dated May 14. 1887. stating that the conununieation had been submitted to the 
Secretary of the Interior, and " after considei'ation of the same, he directs me 
to inform you that the Department will not increase the portion of the salary 
contributed by the Government. He thinks the mission board should continue 
to contribute one-half of the salary while you continue to hold the position. 
The small appropriation made by Congress to education in Alaska and the 
increasing demands made upon the Government for the support of the schools 
will not at this time, in his opinion, justify any increase of the salary of the 
general agent." 

Attest of above. 

W. T. Harris. Commissioner. 

May 14, 1887. 
Rev. Sheldon Jackson, D. D. 

(Care Presbyterian Assembly, Omaha. Nebr.) 
Dear Sir : I have the honor to receive your letter of April 15, calling my 
attention to the inadequacy of the salary attached to the office of the general 
agent of education in Alaska and informing me that the arrangement by which 
the mission board contributed .$1,200 toward your salary had been terminated 
and asking the consent of the Secretary of the Interior to make the salary of 
the general agent $2,400 per annum, with traveling expenses while on business. 
I have the honor to state that your letter has been submitted to the Secretary, 
and after consideration of the same he directs me to inform you that the 
Department will not increase the portion of the salary contributed by the 
Government. He thinks the mission board should continue to contribute one- 
half of the salary while you continue to hold the position. The small appro- 
priation made by Congress to education in Alaska and the inci'easing demands 
made upon the Government for the support of the schools will not at this time, 
in his opinion, justify any increase of the salary of the general agent. 
Very truly, yours. 

N. H. R. Dawson. Commissioner. 



Department of the Interiob, 

Washington, January 3. 1898. 

Sir: I have received your recommendation of the 21st ultimo, that, in con- 
sideration of the great increase in the labor and resposibility devolving upon 
the general agent of education in Alaska, the salary allowed him from the 
Congressional appropriation be increased from $2,000 to $3,000 a year. 

As the appropriation by Congress for the support of education in Alaska is 
not large. I do not feel justified in approving an increase to the full amount 
recommended by you. but I hereby approve an addition of $500 a year to the 
present salary. You are accordingly authorized to approve vouchers for the 
salary of the" Rev. Sheldon Jackson, general agent of education in Alaska, at 
the rate of "$2,500 a year, beginning January 1, 1898, payable from the annual 
appropriation for the support of education in Alaska. 
Very respectfully. 

C. N. Bliss, Secretary. 

The Commissioner of Education. 

Note. — See letter to the Secretary of the Interior of December 21, 1897, in 
Department letter book (containing letters from October 5, 1897, to June 21, 
1898). 



124 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SEEVTCE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

Department of the Interior, 

Washington, January 22, 1897. 
Sir : Your recommendrition of the 13th instant that, in view of the with- 
drawal of Government aid from the Alaskan mission schools, the entire salary 
of the general agent of education in Alaslia be assumed by this Department 
instead of requiring one-half thereof to be paid by the Board of Home Mis- 
sions of the Presbyterian Church, with accompanying letters and papers, has 
been received. 

After careful consideration of the subject and the amount of funds avail- 
able, you are hereby authorized to approve vouchers for the salary of Rev. 
Sheldon Jaclvson as general agent for education in Alaska at the rate of 
$2,000 a year, beginning January 1, 1897. 
Very respectfully, 

D. R. Francis, Secretary. 
The Commissioner or Education. 

Note. — See letter of January 11, 1897, to the Secretary of the Interior in 
Department letter book (containing letters from March 9, 1896, to October 
2, 1897). 



Exhibit 4. 

Mr. Harris to Mr. Church W. 

government herds of reindeer. 

In the management of the reindeer system in Alaska economy is one of the 
first points to be considered, but there is another point of equal or greater 
importance, namely, the avoidance of loose business methods and of the scandal 
attendant upon them. If on account of thinly settled population and wide 
separation of settlements and infrequent communication by mail, the distance 
of reindeer herds from the residence of the superintendent, there are liable to 
creep into the management loose methods, it Iiecomes quite in)]>ortant to in- 
trust some or all of the details of the management to jiarties outside of the 
Government who are worthy of confidence and are willing to undertake 
the responsibility and answer to the Government for the correct administration 
of these details. If the details are not managed in accordance with Govern- 
ment principles the Government can assume the position of prosecutor instead 
of defender, which makes a great difference in official management. The Gov- 
ernment can not achieve and retain the respect of the public if it is chargeable 
with all of the imperfections in management which are incident to the con- 
duct of the minute details. Much more efficiency can be obtained by trusting 
the minutia of detail to private parties who are known to be honest and well 
meaning and who are willing to undertake the attitude of responsibility to the 
Government and to the public. 

To make an application of this principle : The Bureau of Education discov- 
ered that in managing the reindeer herds it was liable to make mistakes in 
the selection of young men fit to become reindeer apprentices. The missionary 
stations in Alaska had been brought into such connection with the young people 
among the Eskimos that they could easily find boys who had proved themselves 
faithful in their school studies and in the various charges which they had 
undertaken for the school or the teacher. In short, the selection of proper 
persons for apprenticeship would be much better accompished by the super- 
intendents of the mission stations than by the Government superintendents in 
charge of the herds, the latter having to ascertain by wasteful experiment 
after some time who were likely to have patience, persistence, thrift, trust- 
fulness, physical skill, and good judgment to make good reindeer herders. 

Again, it was found necessary to support the apprentices during their period 
of apprenticeship, and in case the apprentices were married it was necessary 
to support also the wives of the apprentices ; and as a practical result the rein- 
deer apprentices divided their provisions with their entire families, the 
younger children following the apprentices to the reindeer herd and assisting 
in consuming rations. 

Large rations had to be issued. It was never certain exactly how many 
persons were being rationed through the regular apprentice. Looseness in this 
matter resulted in turning the reindeer management into a svstematic educa- 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 125 

tion of the Eskimo population about a herd, into thieves living on the Gov- 
ernment, a noteworthy piece of innnoral training instead of moi-al training. 
With thievery also is connected unthrift. 

The missionary station had an advantage over the (iovernment herd in the 
fact that the employees about the missionary establishment relate themselves 
directly to the Eskimo families and have means of knowing whether a family 
is drawing its support from the rations doled out to the apprentice or whether 
the family is doing its best to provide itself with support. The missionary 
station is therefore able in a large measure — not wholly, perhaps — to correct this 
evil which is prone to develop itself in Government herds. 

Again, the apprentices if managed by a lax chief herdsman are liable to 
secure to themselves the best deer in the herd in place of such of their own as 
are not promising, and while a certain per cent of the does of the general 
herd do not bear fawns the apprentice's does always bear fawns and of the 
best quality, a fact which speaks loudly for the fraud and cunning of the ap- 
prentice rather than for his real service to the herd. In this particular, too, 
other things being equal, the missionaries were better able than the Govern- 
ment to protect themselves from fraud. 

The missionaries gradually surround themselves with disciples that they can 
trust. They select, of course, those of their community that are tractable in 
the first place ; that show themselves willing to be of service to the missionary. 
Gradually, however, he discovers that some are hypocrites, and good for "eye 
service " only, and that some are faithful even under trying circumstances. 
Faithfulness, which is, in the missionary's eyes, the most important virtue 
among his disciples, furnishes the criterion for his preferences ; and certainly 
faithfulness is the prime reiiuisite for apprentices and herders. Faithfulness 
insures a predominance of honesty in the dealings of the apprentice with the 
superintendent of the herd. Doubtless a Government station can in the course 
of time ascertain and sift out the thievish and slothful apprentices, but the 
missionary station sifts out the great bulk of these before sending them to the 
field with the herd. 

Even if the missionary had not the advantage over the Government herder, 
it would be better to have the missionary do the selecting of the apprentices 
and the sifting out of the dishonest ones, and incur the necessary odium for the 
mistakes made, Ijecause it is the duty of the (4overnment to earn as much ap- 
plause t)f the people as possible and incur as little odium as possible and because 
the Government, on account of its uncomprounsing attitude toward fraud, must 
incur the ill will of malicious people and the obstruction of selfish and disap- 
pointed men who can with impunity in this country circulate libelous and slan- 
derous accusations and insinuations, or e^■en seemingly fair reports of Govern- 
ment operations, which, notwithstanding, really omit the facts which explain 
and make reasonable Government action. The dismissal of an incompetent 
or dishonest employee in a Government herd leads to retaliation on his part, 
especially if he can find infiuential friends either among business men in the 
conununity or in the National Legislature. No matter how poor his cause may 
be, he may consume a large amount of time and energy on the part of a Gov- 
ernment office in collecting material for defense of its position and in putting it 
into effective sha])e. It may make impossible good management of the work in 
its charge by reason of the subtraction of time and energy from the regular 
routine work of the office and its accunuilation on the work of defense. 

No organization is so able to defend itself as the missionary organization 
from this class of obstructionists. Political pull goes for nothing with them, 
and executive ])atronage goes for very little. The missionary employee, whether 
teacher or api)rentice, who has proved faithless is quietly witlidrawn or dis- 
missed, and the member of the legislature or the business man in the connnunity 
can not obtain a favorable hearing from the missionary board unless he has 
soiuething to urge that is really worth considering. Meanwhile the Govennnent, 
which has a business arrangement with the missionary station, can mention its 
criticisms and its suggestions and receive always a respectful hearing for the 
same. 

ECONOMY IN REINDEER INSTRUCTION. 

As to the matter of economy, the experience of the Bureau of Education has 
thus far been altogether in favor of the missionary station rather than the 
Government herd. Not knowing how long the experiment would receive the 
favor of the (ieneral Government, it had to be the i)olicy of the Bureau of Edu- 
cation to secure as much as possible a firm footiiig in Alaska. l)oth for the in- 
crease of the herds and for a sure policy in training apprentices in reindeer 



126 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

ui;iii:ii,'(>iii(>iit. In the (Toveriiiuent si-liools it had not been found possible to get 
a Jirni j^rasp on the character in training the reindeer ai)prentices. The average 
hohl on tlie chanicter of the Ksliinio on the part of the missionary station is 
superior ti» that of the Government station. But in the matter of economy the 
difference is far more noticeable. 

The chief expense in the management of a reindeer station is the support of 
the apprentices. The apprentice must be supplied with rations while learning 
the care of the herd, and inasmuch as apprentices belong to families and the 
older ap))rentices are married and have fannlies. it has lieen necessary in some 
ca~es to supply with rations not only the aiiprentice, but also his wife and infant 
children. In ca.'e of lax management by reason of too few inspectors on the 
part of the (Jovernment. or by reason of careless and indifferent chief herdsmen, 
apprentices have been allowed to grow up with dishonest habits as regards 
Government rations, and also with dishonest habits as regards the identification 
and the protection of the property of the Government in the fawning season 
by proper marking. 

Moreover, the Government in its herd has been obliged to jirovide subsistence 
not only for the apprentice and the uncertain and varying jtroiiortion of mem- 
bers in the family outside of the apprentices, but it has had to pay for more 
supplies than were found to be necessary in the mission station. 

The mission station assumes the sufiport of the apprentices and the expense of 
superintending the herd. The Government merely furnishes the chief herder, 
who acts as teacher in the art of herding and training for harness. 

In a mission station with l.riOO reindeer the Government expense amounts, 
therefore, to an annual interest on the loan of 100 deer, and secondly to the 
payment of the salary of a skilled herdsman. The skilled herdsman receives 
$600 and rations for himself and wife. 

The cost to the Government of the loan of 100 deer amounts to the annual 
increase of the herd, namely, about 30 fawns, valued at $20 apiece, the value • 
of the same being $000. The cost of the station for the 100 deer, therefore, is 
$000 per annum for the five years ; at the end of five years 100 yomig deer — 
from age of 2 to 5 years — are returned to the Government. The cost to 
the Government, then, for the whole five years' period — at $600 a year — for the 
deer loaned is $3,000. Besides the $3,000 for the loan of the deer, the Govern- 
ment provides a skilled herder, whose salary is $600 per year, besides rations, 
which cost $400 to $800. 

The total expense for 100 deer with a teacher herdsman at the mission station 
is $1,600 to $2,000 a year. But if the herd is a Government herd there should 
be 1 apprentice for each 100 deer ; the herd of 1,000 would require 10 ap- 
prentices and their support would cost an average of $500 for each, or $5,000 
for the 10. Then there would be required two inspectors, at $1,000 each, who 
would furnish their own subsistence. 

The inspectors must be men of good judgment, and men of thorough knowl- 
edge as to details and of firm and resolute will. The inspectors must alter- 
nately visit the herds and keep the management of the herds constantly in hand, 
besides giving instruction in what are called " home industries." namely, the 
making of sledges, skees. reindeer harness, the preparation of reindeer hides 
for clothing, and the preparation of foods : and also see that the appren- 
tices use the English technical terms for the objects of the reindeer industry. 
Over these there should lie a general superintendent of the station, who should 
receive $1,500. This is a total of $9,500, or $10,000 in case the herder is mar- 
ried. 

The expense is $10,000 a year for a herd of 1.000 for salaries and supplies 
alone. The expense must be met annually by the sale of male reindeer for 
slaughter, and would require something over 800 male reindeer sold to the 
market for $12 apiece ; this is the amount received by the Moravian Mission 
for the deer sold to the canneries on the Nushagek River, but the miners have 
]iaid higher prices, and probably $25 could be obtained for thp reindeer at 
Nome or near Fairbanks oi"' any other mining center, and at $25 it would require 
the sale of about 400 male deer to make up this expense. But the number of 
fawns born in a year to 1.000 reindeer properly proportioned would be in the 
neighborhood of 350 deer, of which 175 would be male deer. It is safe to call 
the male deer born annually one-sixth of the herd, but probably not more than 
one-tenth of the deer could be safely slaughtered in any given year, and conse- 
(luently not over 100 of the l.OOO, which at $25 apiece "would bring only $2,500 
instead of $10,000, the amount required in the Government herd merely for the 
support of the apprentices and for the salaries of the teaching and inspecting 
corps. The inspecting corps of laborers at a Government station must be un- 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 127 

usually good because of the difficulty which the Government has in protecting 
itself against the easy manners of natives and of the average American citizen 
who thinks his Government is rich enough to afford him anything he can make 
in the way of jirofit. 

A herd of 5.(i00 would certainly be a little more economical in proportion than 
a herd of 1.000. The average cost of an apprentice would be .f500 a year, and a 
herd of 5.000 ought to furnish instruction for 50 apprentices, at an aggregate 
expense of $25,000: the expense for five herders and five inspectors, at $1,000 
each, would be $10.000 : in addition to that, a superintendent would cost $1,500 
and an assistant superintendent $1,200. A commissary agent would be neces- 
sary, whose firnuiess and integrity must be equal to the work of marketing the 
deer at the highest prices and purchasing supplies at the lowest rates, his sal- 
ary being $1,200. The total ($25,000, $10,000 $1,500, $1,200, $1,200) would give 
about $:?9,000 for the cost of the Government herd, without mentioning the cost 
of buildings, and fuel, and camping outfits, and an apparatus for home industry, 
and such matters. 

To raise $30,000 from a herd of 5.000, which would have 1,000 fawns or more 
per year, would require the sale of more than 3.000 male deer, at $12 a head. 
But the total annual accession to the herd of 5.000 would be only 8(X) male 
deer, or one-quarter as many as would be needed for the support of the station 
of 5.000 deer in the different items above mentioned. Or. if the deer sold 
netted $25 each, it would require l.<)00 male deer, which is twice the number 
annually born. One-half of the entire expense and more would fall on the 
Government herd if it were managed with a sufficient amount of inspection and 
expert care to free it from reasonable criticism. Of unreasonable criticism and 
slander there will undoubtedly be a great deal whether the management de- 
served it or not. 

The United States Government would have to furnish at least one-half the 
expense for the management of hei*ds of 5,000 each, say $20,000 for each large 
herd. 

At present the stations at Wales, Unalakleet, Teller, Kotzebue, and Golovin 
Bay. and Bethel are under missionary establishments and cost nothing for the 
supply of apprentices or for the herdsmen. At Nulato we furnish a reindeer 
herder at an expense of $500 a year salary, but the Catholic mission at that 
place furnishes supplies for the herder as well as for the apprentices. 

The Laplanders take a loan of a herd for five years and give their services 
as instructors for that period. This makes the expense to the Bureau the same 
as 30 fawns a year at $20 apiece. At the end of five years the Laplander re- 
turns 100 and becomes an independent herder himself with the reindeei' that 
he has saved. After five years it is believed that the Government does not 
need to furnish any longer the instruction of a herder at any missionary station. 
The old apprentices have skill enough to manage the herd and instruct the new 
apprentices. The work goes on without further Government aid of any kind, 
except for inspectors and for protection. The Government must see that the 
law is complied with and that female deer are not slaughtered. The Govern- 
ment retains its own heixls at Barrow, Gambell, Tanana, and Iliamna, and these 
have been quite expensive, although not beyond the resources provided by the 
Government. 

Respectfully submitted. 



SOME RESULTS, A. D. 1903. 

From the action of the Presbytery of Missouri River, May 1, 1809. has grown 
5 synods, 20 presbyteries, and 520 churches, with 430 ministers and -11,252 
members, covering five States and two Territories. These churches raised in 
1902, for missionary and religious work, $523,541.03. 

Hoir the Rocky Mountain Territories icere icon to Preshyterianism. 

A CHAPTER IN PIONEER HISTORY. 

[By Rev. Robert Laird Stewart, stated clerk Presbytery of Colorado.""] 

While the Presbyterian Church in this Rocky Mountain region has no vener- 
able recoi-ds to consult, it has a history, nevertheless, which is peculiar in many 
respects, and which ought to be more generally known than it is. Prior to the 
year 1809 the materials for a complete record are very limited and very imper- 

° Dr. Robert Laird Stewart is now (1903) professor of pastoral theology, evidences of 
Christianity and Biblical archaeology, Lincoln University, Pennsylvania. 



128 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

feet, but oium.uli (•:iii lie gathered Iroiii tli'j iiarrativos of tho stated clerks of 
l)ros))yter.v and synod tu afford an outline of at least the most important facts 
connected with the early history of this work. 

The pioneer minister of the Presbyterian Church in Colorado was Kev. Lewis 
Hamilton, of the ])resbytery of St. .Josei)h ( N. S.). .Joining the crowds which 
were crossing the plains in the spring of 18."ir», he reached Denver on Saturday, 
nth of June, and jtreached in an unfinished building the following Sabbath. 
It was a time of wild excitement, and men were rushing hither and thither in 
pursuit of the gold that perisheth. For this they came and endured hardship 
and toil ; and. with most, all thoughts of serious and eternal things were ban- 
ished for the present. All were unsettled, and expected to return in a few 
months or years, with the coveted reward of their toils, to Eastern homes. 
There were multitudes who could be induced to listen to the preaching of the 
gospel for a brief season, l)ut in this unsettled condition of the country there 
was little or no encouragement given for the organization and establishment of 
churches. For several months Mr. Hamilton preached at the mining camps and 
in the towns adjacent to Denver, and late in the fall of 1859 returned to Iowa. 
In the spring of 18G0 he came back to Colorado and continued to preach at 
various points in the Territory. Meantime other ministers began to arrive from 
the East, and labored, as they had opportunity, for short periods ; but no perma- 
nent organization was effected until the 1.5th, of December, 18G1. At this time 
the First Presbyterian Church of Denver (O. S. ) was organized under the min- 
istration of Kev. A. S. Billingsley, of tlie presbytery of Missouri River. It 
consisted of eleven members. Simon Cort, a stanch Presbyterian from West- 
moreland County, Pa., was the first ruling elder, and he has faithfully served 
the church in this position ever since. From this time until the spring of 1869 
four additional organizations were effected — one at Central, one at Black Hawk, 
one in Boulder Valley, and another at Denver, which is known as the Central 
Church and which is supplied at the present time bv Rev. Alex. Reed, D. D., 
late of Brooklyn, N. Y. 

The year 18G9 was the beginning of a new year in the history of Presbyterian 
missions throughout these Rocky Moimtain regions. Before we enter upon it, 
let us talie a glance at the situation. Ten years had passed away since the 
voice of Father Hamilton was lifted up in this wilderness, crying out, like the 
messenger of old, " Prepare ye the way of the Lord ; '" and yet the outlook was 
far from encouraging. Up to this date three of the organizations mentioned 
had provided themselves with church l)uildings, and in one or two instances 
there were encouraging evidences of growth and prosperity ; but, taking the 
field as a whole, the agencies for good were far behind in the race for position 
and influence. In the case of our own denomination this was notably so. It 
was not much to our credit that the task of evangelizing the tens of thousands 
who came to live and labor in Colorado during this decade was limited to five 
feeble churches, some of which were ofttimes without supplies for months at a 
time. With no presbyterial oversight (practically, at least) ; with no common 
bond of union and sympathy, and wholly dependent on transient supplies : in a 
shifting population, it is Jiot strange that these organizations barely maintained 
their existence. Where they could do no more, let it be said of them to their 
high honor " they held the forts " in faith and hope. In the vast Territories 
of Dakota. Montana, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and Arizona there was not a single 
Presbyterian organization at this time, and in New Mexico but one of oiir name. 

Such was the condition of our church in this vast Rocky Mountain region less 
than eight years ago. The chapter whi'-li follows is a brighter one; for God 
in his providence was even then stirring the hearts of men to send speedy relief 
and succor to this forlorn hope. With marvelous rapidity a highway was being 
prepared over mountains and valleys and plains, across the continent; and, as 
it advanced from east to west and from west fo east, a fresh impulse was given 
to every movement connected with the progres.s of this " New West." 

The Union Pacific Railroad was not completed until the 10th of May, 1869, 
but long before this jieriod' multitudes had already entered the Territories or 
were on their westward way, in anticipation of the advantages which were sure 
to follow on the line of this iron trail. The men of this world, wiser in their 
generation than the children of light, were quick to take advantage of the oppor- 
tunities opening up on every hand ; but, as is too often the case, the churches 
were making no special effort to go in and possess the land. The billiard saloon, 
the concert saloon, the corner groggery, the gambling hells, moved with every 
shifting crowd, and were the first places of public resort in every aspiring town. 
In many and many a town there was nowhere else for the young man, fresh 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA. 129 

from a Christian liome, to go, not even on the Sabbath. Evil influences of every 
descx'iption were at the front in force, but the good influences lagged far behind 
in the race for position and power. While waiting for these to come up, many 
a good resolution was surrendered and manj' a promising life was beclouded and 
ruined forever. It is bad policy, as well as wicked neglect, to allow iniquity to 
become intrenched in a new community before the gospel is sent to counteract 
and oppose it ; yet such has been the history of too many of our missionary 
operations in this laud in the past. 

In the fall of 18G8 the synod of Iowa, realizing the importance of making an 
advance moAem.ent westward, simultaneous with the advancement of Immi- 
gration and progress, applied to the board of home missions of our church for a 
commission for Eev. Sheldon Jackson to superintend this important work. 
Owing to some misunderstanding between the secretary of the board and the 
synod, the request was not granted. Meantime the winter of 1868 passed away, 
and th<' Union Pacific, which was then attracting the attention of the world, 
was almost completed. The men of the frontier, who realized the necessity 
for prompt action, were anxious to extend their lines into the country which 
was opening up so wonderfully beyond, but to all human appearances there was 
no solution to the ever-recurring question, " How shall they hear without a 
preacher, and how shall they preach except they be sent? "' We lay a great 
stress on our trained hosts and our munitions of war, but God, who can save 
by few, as well as by many, is not absolutely dependent on these for the ad- 
vancement of His cause. If the hosts of Israel falter and refuse to move, he 
can use a Jonathan and his armor-bearer, a ruddy shepherd boy, with his 
sling, or a faithful Gideon, with his 300 men and a few pitchers and 
lamps, to accomplish His work. It was so here, as the history will show. 

On the 29th of April, 1869, the Presbytery of the Missouri River met at Sioux 
City, .iust twelve days before the completion of the great transcontinental rail- 
way. It was one of those small frontier presbyteries (which some of the 
great ones in the East in our day are tempted to despise), but I question whether 
ever church council or synod or general assembly inaugurated a grander mis- 
sionary movement in the midst of difficulties and discouragements. I am not 
informed as to whether there were many D. D.'s or LL. D.'s in this little com- 
pany (I am inclined to think not), but there certainly must have been some 
Calebs and Joshuas among them, for they, under God, began an aggi'essive 
movement on that day, which has placed the Presbyterian Church in the fore- 
front of missionary operations in these Territories, and which has given into 
our hands that splendid and ever-growing domain which is now covered by the 
synods of Nebraska and Colorado. 

On the afternoon of the day which was appointed for this meeting it, as hap- 
pened, in the providence of God, that three of the ministers, Thomas H. Cleland, 
jr.. J. C. Elliott, and Sheldon Jackson, of the presbytery, were prompted to 
ascend the high bluffs to the northwest of Sioux City and look abroad over the 
land. As they looked toward the setting sun their hearts were saddened and 
their spirits stirred within them by the thought that for 2,000 miles onward 
there was not a single Presbyterian Church. Before they left that spot ear- 
nest prayer was made for these destitute regions beyond. " The spirit of that 
prayer and the impressions of that hour," says one of this trio, " were carried 
into the Presbytery of Missouri River," and the result was that Rev. Sheldon 
Jackson was unanimously appointed (May 1, 1869) superintendent of missions 
for Iowa, Nebraska, Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, and Utah. The presbyteries 
of Des Moines (April 22-24, 1869) and Fort Dodge (May 8, 1869) took similar 
action. There was nothing singular in the fact of making such an appoint- 
ment, for many presbyteries and synods have done the same thing before and 
since, but thei*e was sometlaing significant and singular in the fact that this 
superintendent was appointed by these presbyteries with the distinct under- 
standing that they could give no salary or traveling expenses either to himself 
or to those whom he should send. 

By the terms of this appointment he was expected to sustain himself and 
those whom he should employ in this new field, and at the same time oversee 
missionary operations extending over 571,000 square miles, a province larger 
than all of the New England States and the Middle Western States combijied. 
In the treasury of the presbyteries which appointed him as their superintendent 
there was not a dollar that could be appropriated for this purpose. 

Believing that divine wisdom would open up a w^ay, Mr. Jackson without 
hesitation threw himself upon the promises, not of man. but of God, and 
accepted the appointment with all its responsibilities. With his characteristic 

S. Doc. 483, 59-1 9 



130 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

energy and promptness ho took measures to occupy at once every important 
point on tlie line of the Union Pacific Railway, from the Missouri River to its 
terminus in Utah Territory. Presbytery met, as I have said, on the 29th of 
April, and the road was completed on tlie 10th of May. But ere the last spike 
had been driven Mr. Jackson had sent out on his own responsibility Rev. J. N. 
Hutchinson to Blair, Fremont, and Grand Island ; Rev. John L. Gage to Chey- 
enne and Laramie, and Rev. Melancthon Hughes (who afterwards finished his 
course with joy at Santa Fe, N. Mex.) to Bryan, the Sweetwater Mines, Wah- 
satch, and Utah. This was quick work, but it was a time when quick work was 
needed. Not only did he send these men, but he pledged their support. A few 
weeks later four young men in addition to these were secured from the theo- 
logical seminaries to spend their vacation in preaching. One of these was Rev. 
Josiah Welch, of Salt Lake City, the present moderator of this synod, who is 
well known to most of your readers. During the year 1869, or rather from 
May 1 to December 31, 1869, ten missionaries were employed besides the superin- 
tendent ; " and yet," says Doctor Jackson, " as the season advanced and passed 
there was not a man of them could say that he had not been paid, and paid in 
full." " Lacked ye anything? and tliey said. Nothing.^' This was preeminently 
a work of faith and consecration such as has not a parallel, I believe, in the 
annals of home or foreign missions. 

Moved by the baptism of the Holy Ghost, this consecrated band of men 
entered upon their work without purse or scrip or commission, " covenanting 
with each other to make special and united prayer that He who sent them out, 
who controlled the silver and gold, and who swayed the hearts of men, would 
provide for their support." In a very wonderful manner these prayers were 
answered. Letters written to personal friends brought back generous responses, 
not in good wishes alone, but in substantial bank checks for $5, $10, $25, $50, 
$100, and at one time $500. In his report Doctor Johnson states that in 1869 
and 1870 he received from private sources alone to carry on this work 
$10,079.37. " In that memorable year (I quote from his recent historical slvCtch) 
twenty-two churches were organized, all of which, save one, remain to this day, 
and of which those at the two extremes are nearly 2,000 miles apart. In that 
year the blue banner of our Presbyterianism was successfully planted for the 
first time in the Territories of Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and Utah. Then, 
too, were laid the foundations of the presbyteries of Kearney. Wyoming. Mon- 
tana, Utah, and Colorado, and the synods of Nebraska and Colorado." During 
this year Doctor Jackson traveled over 29,000 miles in the prosecution of his 
laborious work, and with what success the above extracts abundantly show. 
In August of 1869 he received, to his great sui-prise, and without solicitation, a 
•commission from the board of domestic missions, by the terms of which Iowa 
■wa.9 stricken from the field and Colorado and New Mexico were added. About 
the same time Messrs. Gage and Hughes were also placed in commission by 
the board. By this official recognition the work was placed in a " semi-inde- 
pendent " position, but still we are told it was largely dependent upon private 
funds, and private funds continued to be received. " The barrel of meal 
wasted not, and the cruise of oil failed not " so long as they were needed. 
With the reunion of 1870 came a change in the administration of this board, and 
from this time onward the work has been prosecuted by its aid and under its 
control. 

The reunion of 1870 gave a new impulse to missionary operations throughout 
the entire church. A movement so grand and inspiriting was naturally sug- 
gestive of grand enterprises of Christian evangelism. By a concentration of 
scattered resources and a combination of missionary efforts the united church 
was enabled to make a forward movement, from which, may God grant, she 
may never recede. 

The " memorial year " which followed the consummation of this union was 
one of unparalleled prosperity in that most important aid to permanent mission 
work — church Iniilding. During that memorable year Doctor Jackson states 
that he secured from churches and personal friends for this object, over and 
above large grants made by the board of church erection, the sum of $8,207.09. 
Under the new management some necessary changes were made in the grouping 
of mission fields, and, as a result, Nebraska and Dakota were cut off from this 
district, leaving Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, and New^ Mexico under 
the supervision of Doctor Jackson, as before. In 1875 the Territory of Arizona 
was added to this field by enactment of the general assembly. This is the Terri- 
tory which is now covered by the synod of Colorado ; and there are few Presby- 
terians either in the East or West that have any adequate idea of its immensity 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 131 

and prospective imiiortance. Extending from British America on the north to 
Mexico on the south, it embraces 18 degrees of latitude and 15 degi'ees of longi- 
tude. This princely domain is " as large as the combined empires of Great Brit- 
ain, Germany, France, and Italy" (not including their colonial possessions). It 
covers a field " ten times larger than all New England — a province larger than all 
the country between the Missouri River and the Atlantic Ocean from the Lakes 
to the Ohio ; "comprising, in other words, nearly one-fifth of the entire area of 
the United States. 

Since 1869 a consecrated band of men have labored earnestly, in connection 
with the untiring seperintendent of missions, to occupy and evangelize this vast 
and rapidly growing region, and the visible result has been the organization of 
67 Presbyterian churches and the erection of 36 church buildings. More than 
double this number of churches might have been organized during these eight 
years if there had been any reasonable prospect of supplying them with the 
regular ministrations of the Gospel. It has been the settled policy both of the 
board and its coadjutors to occupy the central points in each of these vast 
regions, ^^'hilst it is a wise policy, the sad truth should not be overlooked also, 
that those living in- more remote regions and mining camps and almost the 
entire country population of these Territories ai-e still without the privileges 
of the Gospel. This destitution is not owing to lack of energy in missionaries 
or superintendents of missions, but to lack of means, without which it is im- 
possible to extend our bounds in any direction. 

The synod of Colorado, which was formed in 1871, consists at the present 
time of the presbyteries of Montana, Utah, Santa Fe, and Colorado. All of 
these except the latter are small presbyteries, but they are doing an important 
work for the church, which will one day be more full.y recognized and appre- 
ciated than it is now. When presbyteries are small because they have no 
I'oom to expand, they have no right to exist : but where they ought to be large 
and are patiently holding ground which synods will one day occupy, they have 
rights which the great Presbyterian Chvirch is bound to respect. The presby- 
tery of Colorado was organized in November, 1869, but did not hold a regular 
meeting until February, 1870. At that time it numbered 5 ministers and 8 
small churches. In May, 1876, about six years later, this presbytery reported 
26 ministers and 28 churches, 1 licentiate and 1 candidate for the ministry. 
(It might have sent four delegates, under existing rules, to the general assem- 
bly in the centennial year, but it was content with two.) Its contributions for 
all purposes, as reported last year, amounted to more than $32,000. It is also 
a matter of thankfulness that we have at the present time a gi-owing church 
in every prominent village and town in Colorado. In the other Territories 
there is evidence of progress equally gratifying, but the work in these has been 
of necessity confined to a few central points. It is something, however, that 
the blue banner of our Presbyterian host has been successfully planted in Mor- 
mon Utah and papal New Mexico and Arizona, as well as on the rugged heights 
of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado ; and that, by the cooperative work of 
the church and school, a leavening influence is being exerted which is even now 
molding public sentiment and changing open opposers into ardent workers for 
Christ. 

The experience we have passed through as a church, in connection with 
efforts put forth for the evangelization of our land, will be of little practical 
value if it fails to impress upon us the importance of pi*ompt, aggressive work. 
There is danger of a church becoming so firmly " established " in precise ways 
that it ceases to move. The minuti;Te of a successful campaign can not be 
written out beforehand. New and unheard-of difficulties must be met with 
new and special methods. When we have no vast Territories to explore and 
conquer, no unseen difiiculties to grapple with, no perplexing questions to 
solve in the absence of precedents, and, in a word, no pioneer work to do in 
new and unknown regions, we may dispense with such super-Presbyterian ad- 
juncts as synodical missionaries and the like, so essential now to a successful 
advance ; but for the present we must make use of these or cease to be a mission 
church. But for the prompt action and unwavering devotion of our honored 
superintendent of missions (whose name is familiar to all the churches), we 
would have but little Presbyterianism in these Territories to-day either to be 
proud of or ashamed of. All honor to the noble men who seconded him in this 
glorious work, both in the East and West ; but none, I am sure, will accord more 
honor to him, as the moving spirit in this good work, than those who labored and 
sacrificed with him. It is easy to find fault — much easier than to breast the 
current and push forward aggressive work — and this good brother has not 



132 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SEKVICE^ ETC.^ IN ALASKA. 

escaped the oonmion lot of all fearless and energetic men. It would be strange, 
too. if lie had not made mistakes in the midst of the perplexities and difficulties 
with which he was ofttimes surrounded ; but when these are forgotten, his self- 
denying work for Christ in these Rocky Mountain regions will remain. 

I do not believe in the glorification of men, but it is a Scripture precept, 
" Honor to whom honor is due." The older ministers of this presbytery can 
recall many an instance where churches were saved from failure and financial 
ruin by timely aid obtained from private sources through his efforts, while 
with few exceptions (three or four) he has assisted in this way, more or less, 
every church erected in this presbytery since 1809. His main work, however, 
has been the exploration of new and unknown fields, preparing them for occu- 
pancy, harmonizing diverse and heterogeneous elements and organizing them 
into churches, securing acceptable ministers, counseling with reference to 
church sites and plans and securing donations of land, strengthening and en- 
couraging feeble churches, enlisting sympathy and help for suffering fields, con- 
ducting a well-known religious newspaper, and carrying on at the same time an 
overwhelming correspondence with individuals and societies in the interests of 
the home mission work. 

In the prosecution of this work Doctor Jackson has traveled, from the spring 
of 1869 to January 1, 1877. 197.204 miles — a distance each year of a trip around 
the world. He has made three trips to Montana, each fnvolviug about 1.500 
miles of staging ; three trips likewise to New Mexico, one continuing across 
Arizona to the Pacific Ocean, two of these involving more than 2.000 miles of 
staging and horseback riding each. Those who are familiar with the physical 
hardships and dangers incident to travel in a new and sparsely settled country, 
and only those, can form an adequate idea of the amount of suffering and 
fatigue which must necessarily be crowded into such trips. With all this 
amount of travel, by rail, by stage, on horseback, and on foot, it is not sur- 
prising that he " should meet with many experiences that fortunately do not 
ordinarily fall to the lot of a minister." I can not better describe this feature 
of the work than to give an extract from the closing words of a brief review of 
his labors, etc., which was furnished by request of the presbytery of Colorado : 
" With the Apostle Paul, your synodical missionary can truly say, ' In journey- 
ings often ; in perils of water ' — fording rivers, sometimes swollen with sudden 
rains ; once compelled to get out into the freezing water and break the ice that 
had frozen out from the bank so that his horse could get through. ' In perils 
of robbers ' — five times has the stage been stopped and robbed by highwaymen 
just before or after he passed over the route. ' In perils by my own country- 
men ' — once the trembling of the finger alone stood between him and instant 
death as a half dozen revolvers were pointed at his breast, or when lying down 
at night upon his revolver with the strong conviction that he might wake to 
struggle with the Mormon assassin ; once a fanatical Papal mob were called 
upon to hang him, and at another he was taken to prison for the Gospel's sake. 
' In perils in the wilderness ' — as again and again he has been lost on the plains 
or in the mountains- — sometimes in blinding snowstorms where others have 
perished, or among the trackless mountains of Arizona without food or water ; 
again and again fighting the prairie fire that swept wildly around him, or 
fleeing before the roaring blast of a wall of fire madly leaping from pine to 
pine along the mountain side. ' In perils by the heathen ' — riding one long 
summer day with rifle across the knee, momentarily expecting the attack of 
the savage Sioux ; and again upon the upper Missouri, where the steamer was 
fired into by the hostile tribes that inhabit the banks of the river ; at another 
time avoiding the murderous Apache on the waipath and saving his scalp by 
fifteen hours. ' In perils by wild beasts and venomous reptiles ; in perils by 
land and by sea, in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger 
and thirst, in fasting often, in heat and cold.' Again and again crying out in the 
agony of physical suffering for grace and strength to endure to the end." " Such 
is a feeble delineation," he continues, " of the life of your superintendent for 
the last seven years. At times feeling that the burden was too great, that it 
could no longer be carried, that it was more than should be asked of one per- 
son, that he had done his full share of rough work, and then chiding his un- 
belief and gathering new strength and courage at the cross of Christ, he has 
pressed forward again, thankful for the privilege of laboring and suffering for 
Jesus." ■ 

This extract speaks for itself. I have referred to it. not for the sake of re- 
flecting honor upon the labors of Brother Jackson, but in order to show that 
aggressive work under such circumstances means suffering and toil and peril. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 133 

It is meet that those who sympathize with this noble worlv and give of their 
means to aid it should know at what expense these triumphs for Presbyterian- 
ism and Christianity have been won ; and it is for this reason that I have been 
prompted to write this brief sketch. 

What the result shall be when these infant churches and presbyteries shall 
grow into maturity and spread abroad " until the woi'k of each shall meet 
that of his brother on the other side," it may not be ours to see ; but as surely 
as God reigns that time is coming on apace, and coming through the instru- 
mentalities and prayers of these faithful men who braved every difficulty and 
danger that this great and ever-increasing population might be saved for 
Christ and His church. 

The history of our home mission operations in the past century of our 
national life is full of thrilling instances of devotion and sacrifice and unre- 
mitting toil for the Master's sake ; and it is pleasant to record the fact that the 
last decade of this rounded century had been closed in the same heroic, aggres- 
sive spirit with which the first began. Then the blue pennon waved from the 
summit of the Alleghenies, while earnest men peered anxiously forward into 
the unknown region beyond ; now it floats from the summit of the Sierras — 
the last stronghold of the enemy — and waves responses to embattled hosts from 
the Atlantic to the Pacific shore on either side. The question is no longer, 
Shall we advance? but. Shall we occupy? From God in history and God in 
His providence we get the command as the watchword of this new century — ■ 
" Close up the ranks." " Hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take 
thy crown." 



Exhibit 5. 

Clipping from Washington Post, January 30, 1906. 

The schooner Laura Madsen is owned and operated by Messrs. S. Foster & 
Co., of San Francisco, and reached Point Barrow the first week in August, 1905, 
loaded with supplies shipped by her owners for use at the school at Point 
Barrow. Reference was made to this ship in my general report. The news- 
paper item conveys the idea that she is operated by Doctor .Jackson's division 
of the Bureau of Education, and that she was sent as a relief ship. 

'• BOAT CRUSHED BY ICE RELIEF SCIIOOXER DESTROYED IX ALASKAX WATERS 

CARGO SAVED. 

" Prof. Sheldon Jackson, head of the Alaska division of the Bureau of 
Education, received a telegram at noon yesterday from Nome, Alaska, via 
San Francisco, stating that the schooner Madsen had been crushed in the ice 
and wholly destroyed. 

" It is the fourth vessel of its kind which the Alaska division has lost in the 
same way in the last five years. 

" The reindeer station and school at Point Barrow, Alaska, were in danger of 
running short of provisions, and the vessel was sent on a relief expedition from 
San Francisco. 

" Doctor Jackson was gratified to learn that the crew, with the aid of the 
Eskimo and Point Barrow people, had succeeded in unloading, landing, and 
storing the cargo before the ship went to pieces. The news of the destruction 
of the Madsen was brought by reindeer mail from Point Barrow to Nome, and 
from there sent by telegraph to San Francisco." 

This ship has made annual cruises to the Arctic for some years, carrying 
supplies to whoever would buy them of Messrs. S. Foster & Co., of California 
street, San Francisco. Cal. 



THIRD SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT. 

Department of the Interior, 

Washington^ D. C.^ June 2, 1906. 

Sir: I have the honor to return to you the commentary by Hon. 
W. T. Harris on my Alaska report : 

It is unfortunate that Commissioner Harris has never been in 
Alaska, consequently he must base his comments a-lmost entirely upon 
hearsay and rumors, or upon the reports made to him by his subordi- 
nate. Dr. Sheldon Jackson, who has not been in Alaska for more 
than six years last j)ast. I know from Doctor Harris's own mouth 
that he is acquainted with some of the weak points in past manage- 
ment of the Alaska division of his office, but he very naturally, per- 
haps, undertakes to defend or explain away past practices so far as 
they reflect in any degree upon the administration of his subordi- 
nates. 

All through my reports I quoted from the annual reports of Doctor 
Jackson, superintendent of education in Alaska, and commented 
thereon. These annual reports, which are profusely illustrated, are 
disclaimed by the Commissioner as his reports, and upon one occasion 
when I called his attention to statements found therein, he char- 
acterized the publications as " drivel." I have read ten or twelve 
of these books which have been printed at the public expense, and 
challenge anyone to show from them the average attendance of pu- 
pils at the Alaska schools, and I will state further that the Bureau 
can not show that an accurate count of the reindeer has been made 
at all of its stations in any one of the last three years. 

Commissioner Harris uses considerable space to explain away the 
giving of 118 head of reindeer to a mission at Cape Prince of Wales. 
My report shows exactly where I went in Alaska, and I took consid- 
erable pains to show my authority for the statements found in my 
reports. Mr. W. T. Lopp, the trusted local superintendent of schools 
and reindeer in Alaska, was with me for several weeks, and during 
that time I Avent over the details of the business in hand with hini 
very carefully. Mr. Lopp has been connected with the reindeer 
industry and missions in Alaska for about fourteen years, having 
spent several winters in the district, and I found him well informed 
as to the history of the reindeer industry from their first introduction. 
I Adsited several herds in person, and held interviews with numerous 
employees of the Bureau in Alaska, and I do not consider it too much 
to say that when I had finished my investigations I Avas as well pre- 
pared to submit a report on the subject as persons Avho had never 
been in Alaska or who haAx not been in the district for several years. 
Doctor Harris admits that only 30 per cent of the deer are in the 
unencumbered control of the United States, that 38 per cent are in 
the hands of the natives, 11 per cent in the hands of outsiders, and 
that the missions have 21 per cent. I leave his statement, adding 
that my reports, which, it appears, have not pleased the Bureau of 
Education, contend that the business should have been so conducted 

134 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 135 

that at this time all of the deer should have been in the hands of the 
natives or the United States, instead of being parceled out as the 
Commissioner admits they now are. 

Brushing away the cold-blooded transfer of Government deer to an 
imaginary mission at St. Lawrence Island as an " error in bookkeep- 
ing " and the giving away outright 118 deer at Cape Prince of Wales 
may be considered a simple matter by the Bureau, but the fact is the 
exposure of these transactions was based upon something more chan 
mere rumor, as the honorable Commissioner, by inference at least, 
would have you understand. At any rate, I considered it appropriate 
that attention should be called to the transactions. 

I recall nothing in my report concerning the sale of female reindeer 
that should disturb the Bureau, but it will not be denied that both 
sexes were loaned from time to time, and it is certainly fair to 
assume that the parties who accepted these loans expected to utilize 
the natural increase of the herd for their own benefit. 

The Bureau seems to surmise that an effort is being made to undo 
the deer industry. Nothing could be further from my intention, and 
I stated that the deer business, properly conducted, needs no bolster- 
ing up. Great sums of money have been expended on reindeer, and 
they will be of lasting benefit to the natives; and I am willing that 
the value of my reports shall stand or fall on the proposition that the 
Government has the right to control its property and to demand that 
its employees shall be loyal to the Government's interests. 

I gather from the commentary that the Commissioner believes in 
long apprenticeship for natives before they shall receive deer. If the 
present policies are continued and the bulk of the deer are to be loaned 
out, it is plain to me. with the large birth rate claimed, that long 
before any considerable part of the natives will be benefited large 
herds will have accumulated in the hands of parties having loans. 

Concerning deer trained to harness, my reports simply admit the 
possibility of training deer. No one denies that they ma}^ be so 
trained, and I intended only to show that the value of trained deer 
has apparently been overestimated by the Bureau, and I consider it 
useless to argue that the Eskimos will bring them into general use 
for transportation. Grant that some of the deer will be used as 
beasts of burden, the question resolves itself into the matter of supply 
and demand. At the present time the Eskimos have very little to 
transport, and the demand for sled deer by prospectors and others is 
not great. Those who need the animals for teams will train them, 
as a matter of course, and the natives will attend to that part of the 
business as circumstances require. 

The commentary intimates, in fact, states, that there is prejudice 
on the part of the miners and others against the missionaries. If 
this be true I am not aware of it, and that view of the situation can 
be dismissed, so far as I know. 

The Bureau will certainly interpose no objections to the doctrine 
that its affairs and reports should be put upon the same basis of 
requirements as is common to the other Bureaus of the Department. 

ENROLLMENT OF PUPILS. 

The Commissioner replies to my suggestion that " average at- 
tendance " of pupils in the schools be reported, as well as the number 
enrolled, by saying that the number enrolled is considered the most 



136 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

important of all items of school statistics. On this point I will 
not undertake to dispute such high authoritj^ on educational mat- 
ters, still I maintain that in getting at things concerning Alaska 
schools, their per capita cost, and so on, the actual number of pupils 
in attendance at the schools should be disclosed to indicate to what 
extent the natives patronize the schools that are provided for them. 
It would certainly be a simple matter to enroll each casual visitor 
who should come to sit by the schoolhouse fire, when, in fact, such 
person would in no sense be a pupil of the school. 

The number of pupils in the Eskimo schools have beyond ques- 
tion been greatly exaggerated, and attention is invited to the state- 
ments of Mr. W. T. Lopp on school matters, found in Appendix A, 
especial attention being invited to the Wainwright School, where it 
is reported by the Bureau that a school was maintained in 1904:-5 
with a $1,500 teacher, when, as a matter of fact, there was no school 
there of any kind. The teacher who was afterwards directed to 
proceed to that point told me that there were only forty persons, 
all told, at Wainwright, and Mr. Lopp says, if you will notice, that 
this teacher would not be likely to have many pupils there. If 
statements from such men as Rev. Mr. Kilbuck, the teacher, and Mr. 
Lopp, the local superintendent, are to be called hearsay, I plead 
guilty of using that class of testimony. I was at Wainwright and 
know of my own knowledge that up to August 1, 1905, there was 
no school there. Referring again to the matter of hearsay testimony, 
I accepted as reliable the say-so of the Bureau's employees wherever 
I found them, and referring again to the matter of enrolhiient of 
pupils, with a view to obtaining accurate data, it is clearly within 
the province of the Department to determine whether it wishes to 
know how many children actually are attending school. I can assure 
you, however, that the dilference between the number enrolled and 
the number in attendance will be quite considerable. 

LOANING DEER. 

The commentary defends its policy of loaning deer. This is a 
matter which is wholly in the hands of the Department. Personally 
I do not approve of the policy as it has been conducted, and have so 
stated. Although I asked for copies of lease contracts, the Bureau 
has not thus far exhibited any showing that parties receiving the 
loans could be compelled to carry out their agreements, which, so 
far as the missions are concerned, have been mainly verbal. 

CAPE PRINCE OF WALES. 

The Commissioner has elaborated on the gift of 118 deer at Cape 
Prince of Wales, and I fail to see occasion for lengthy comment 
thereon by me. The question is. Did Doctor Jackson give 118 deer 
to the Cape Prince of Wales Mission ? Mr. Lopp, the then agent for 
that mission, says that the deer were given to the mission without 
condition, and that he rec^iived them on behalf of the mission. Some 
time afterwards a controversy grew out of this gift and an attempt 
was made to make it appear that it was a loan instead of a gift, and 
we know now that the Treasury Department insisted on the deer 
taken from there for the Point Barrow expedition being returned, 
which shows that the mission had able assistance in getting back 
the deer that it believed were their own under the gift. 



EDUCATIOXAL A^D SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 137 

ST. LAWRENCE ISLAND. 

It hardly seems necessary to go over the transactions at this place 
again. I was there twice, and it is not a matter of hearsay that 
brought out my report that TO deer were loaned there five years 
ago and to an imaginary mission. I we^it into this matter fully in 
my main report, and it was not an unjust or unbusinesslike criticism 
for me to state that the Bureau's affairs in connection with this 
and other stations have been loosely conducted. 

GELDING AND FEMALE DEER. 

There should be no surprise that the printed report that gelding 
and female deer placed upon an island in the Bering Sea " have in a 
measure stocked that island with reindeer " is pushed aside as a 
'* rumor," as this is probably the easiest way to dispose of it ; but the 
statement that such deer were placed there is a matter of common 
report and generally believed in Alaska, if the testimony of numerous 
persons can be relied on. The deer were placed on the island some 
twelve or fourteen years ago, and as there are none of them left 
(here it is not worth while to attempt to offer any proof. In fact, 
it is of very little consequence at this late day, as I have no doubt 
ihe deer were put there to see if they would thrive in that localitv; 
but I do think the statement that they " have in a measure stocked " 
the island an indication that the Bureau did not know the facts. 

" NOT ILLOGICAL." 

The learned Commissioner says my report is faulty concerning the 
separation of church and state, and is so kind as to say that this is 
" not because illogical, but because the data found in the Bureau's 
reports were wrong." As already stated, I quoted freely from these 
reports, believing them authentic from the standpoint of the Bureau's 
records, but I think I made it clear that in numerous instances the 
reports were erroneous, and I am glad to note that the Commissioner 
admits it. 

Hitherto no special representative of your Department has visited 
Alaska for the purpose of reporting on schools and reindeer, so that 
the only source of information was in these reports of the Bureau, 
which the Commissioner now admits are in a measure unreliable. 
It is generally understood, to say the least, that the Bureau's Alaska 
policy has been dominated by Doctor Jackson, who receives a salary 
from the Government, together with a salary from one of the great 
missionary boards. It would appear from the arguments of the 
Commissioner that the Bureau hopes to retain control of the schools 
and reindeer and presumably the continuanoe of its connections 
with the mission boards. I am not sure that I am called upon to 
discuss the plans for the future, but it can not be out of place for 
me to say that, as time goes on, the reindeer business will prove a 
pretty expensive branch of the public service. 

DEER IN 1905. 

The claim by the Bureau that the Government had more deer in 
1905 than ever before does not occur to me to have much bearing on 
the general subject, as it is nothing but fair to assume that the herds 



138 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SEKVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

will increase from year to year. The Commissioner generously 
admits that if the Bureau had managed the deer as well as it has 
been done under Mr. Lopp at Cape Prince of Wales it would have 
still more deer — a statement that is not likely to be disputed ; and by 
way of suggestion I would add that it might be better, after all, for 
the Government to retire from the deer business. 

DISCLAIMER. 

I disclaim any intent of making unfair insinuations, but admit 
following up such reports affecting the business in hand as seem 
to me to be pertinent. I will add that I heard various criticisms 
against the methods pursued in carrying on the schools and reindeer 
matters that did not seem to me to be worth following up. 

W. T. LOPP. 

You have done me the honor to place in my hands a copy of an 
interview with Mr. W. T. Lopp, a gentleman who has spent more than 
fifteen years in the Arctic and who, in my opinion, knows as much 
about the Alaska school and reindeer service as any person. Mr. 
Lopp accompanied Lieutenant Jarvis with the herd of reindeer for 
the suffering whalers at Point Barrow. Mr. Lopp is entirely trust- 
worthy, and his statements may be relied upon. I transmit this 
paper, marked "Appendix A," and make it a part of this communi- 
cation, and I trust you will find it convenient to read it carefully in- 
connection with my several reports. In the event that the insinua- 
tions that my reports are based upon " hearsay and rumors " is taken 
seriously I invite particular attention to the numerous exhibits 
which were made a part of these reports. Let all the reports, tables, 
and exhibits be considered as a whole and we may see who has been 
dependent upon hearsay and rumors in discussing schools, reindeer, 
and missions in Alaska. Attention is also particularly invited to 
the failure of the honorable Commissioner to touch upon numerous 
subjects in his commentary upon my reports, and I think it will be 
discovered that quite a number of matters passed over by him will be 
found to be worthy of your attention. 

I have the honor to be. 

Very respectfully, Frank C. Churchill, 

Late Special Agent. 

Hon. E. A. Hitchcock, 

Secretary of the Interior. 



Appendix "A." 



Department of the Interior, 

Office of the Secretary, 

Washiiifftoii. April 2. 1906. 
Present : The Seci-etary, the governor of Alaska, Mr. W. B. Acker, and Mr. 
William T. Lopp. 

The Secretary. Mr. Lopp. what is your full name? 
Mr. Lopp. William T. Lopp. 

The Secretary. How long have you been in Alaska? 
Mr. Lopp. Twelve winters and thirteen summers. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA. 139 

The Secretary. What have you been engaged in out there? 

Mr. Lopp. Teaching ; and have also had charge of the reindeer vpork. My 
title, I believe, was " Supervisor." We call it " Superintendent of the north- 
west district of Alaska." 

The Secretary. In connection with what? 

Mr. Lopp. With the distribution of reindeer. 

The Secretary. By what authority? 

Mr. Lopp. Bureau of Education : Doctor Harris. 

The Secretary. When did you begin that service? 

Mr. Lopp. I began July 1. 1904. 

The Secretary. How much ground have you covered? 

Mr. Lopp. I have covered about 1.2(tO miles, I should say, of post. 

The Secretary. How many stations? 

Mr. Lopp. How many at the present time? 

The Secretary. No: how many visited? Herds and schools, or schools at 
which there were herds? 

Mr. Lopp. Seven. 

The Secretary. How many are there altogether? 

Mr. Lopp. There are eight, I think, in the district, or were eight. 

The Secretary. At which there were reindeer? 

Mr. Lopp. Yes. sir. I was unable to visit St. Lawi'ence Island. 

The Secretary. That is the only one out of the eight that you did not visit? 

Mr. Lopp. Yes, sir. 

The Secretary. How many reindeer are there now altogether in Alaska? 

Mr. Lopp. About 10,000, I believe, according to the latest tables. 

The Secretary. How are they distributed? 

Mr. Lopp. They are distributed among the missions. 

The Secretary. I think you had better begin and make your own statement 
covering the situation — what your position was and what your duties were, 
and then give any details as to any contracts and how those contracts have been 
carried out. what use they make of the reindeer, and whether, in your judg- 
ment, the system is a good one, or is capable or susceptible of improvement, and 
what improvement. 

Mr. Lopp. Well, to take them up by stations, for instance, I foiind some that 
were leased out to missions, and others were leased out to Laplanders, and some 
seemed to be mixed. 

The Secretary. You spoke of leases. What kind of leases were made, or 
loans? 

]\Ir. Lopp. At Kotzebue Sound there was a written contract with the mission 
board, and also with the Laplander there. Both the mission and the Laplander 
at Kotzebue station were loaned 100 deer fom* years ago. 

The Secretary. Upon what conditions? 

Mr. Lopp. The Laplander was loaned deer on the condition that he remain 
there and instruct the Eskimos in the art of managing reindeer, and he was to 
return to the Government at the end of the five years' lease the deer which he 
had borrowed, or an equal number of the same sex. The mission's lease 

The Secretary. What mission? 

Mr. Lopp. The Quaker mission, at Kotzebue. They also got 100 at the same 
time, and I think they were bound up or loaned 100 deer for the purpose of in- 
troducing them among the natives. The contract did not state how many they 
were to train. That wa'S all left out of the contract. 

The Secretary. Any to be returned? 

Mr. JjOvp. Yes. sir ; same number to be returned ; same sex and same number. 

The Secretary. Any other missions? 

Mr. Lopp. At Deering. on the south side of Kotzebue. I was instructed by 
wire in the fall that I could loan them 100 deer — the Quakers' mission, at Deer- 
ing. 

The Secretary. A diffex'ent location — the second 100 was loaned to Quaker 
mission? 

Mr. Lopp. Yes, sir. They also instructed me to appoint two Eskimo herders 
To take charge of that herd. If any of the Cape Prince of Wales boys are will- 
ing to go up there and look after that herd they would pay them .$200 and their 
rations. 

The Secretary. For what length of time? 

Mr. Lopp. For a year. I will state, first, that the first instruction I got from 
the Department was to hire one Laplander and pay him .$.500 and put him in 
charge of this new herd. 



140 EDUCATIOiSrAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

The Secretary. What new herd? 

Mr. Lopp. At Deeriug, which they had instructed me to establish. I wired 
tliem baciv that I did not lilce the La])lander they had suggested and preferred 
to put two natives in charge. They had been in the deer business for about 
twelve years, and I suggested that they pay the two natives as much as they 
proposed paying the one Laplander. They wired back to take the two natives, 
but pay them only $200 — .$100 each — and I did that. Those natives also took 
the deer which they own in the Cape Prince of Wales herd and put these with 
100 Government deer, and together we drove the entire herd to Deering in Jan- 
uary, 1905, and established that new herd. After arriving there I wrote up a 
contract with the missionary in charge, and all I had to go by was a copy of the 
one across the Sound. I knew what that was. I made them promise to keep 
at least four herders. I required the mission to sign up an agreement that they 
would put at least four Eskimo apprentices with the herd and keep them witli 
it. This herd was leased for five years and was the only one I loaned during 
my stay up there. At Cape Prince of Wales station, which I have been asso- 
ciated with mostly, you probably know pretty well the history of that. I was 
in charge at Teller reindeer station in 1893 and 1894. The missionary was 
killed at Cape Prince of Wales, so I was asked to go back there and went back. 
The Bureau gave that mission 100 deer. 

The Secretary. What mission? 

Mr. Lopp. Cape Prince of Wales Congregational mission, and at the same time 
proposed giving another 100 to the Golofnin Bay mission. 

The Secretary. What mission is that? 

Mr. Lopp. That is a Swedish Evangelical mission. Beginning in 1892, and 
after two years' experiment thei-e at Teller reindeer station, they proposed giv- 
ing the Cape Prince of Wales mission 100 deer, and also the Golofnin Bay mis- 
sion 100. 

The Secretary. That is No. 9 on the map. 

Mr. Lopp. Yes, sir. Well, they gave Cape Prince of Wales mission 100 deer, 
and at that time, as the representative, I signed up the agreement — it is pub- 
lished in one of the reports. It was stated to me that the first money to start 
the reindeer industry was contributed from private sources — .$2,000. At any 
rate we got 100 deer there at Cape Prince of Wales in 1894, and I had charge 
there for a year and then came outside a year, and back again in 1896 and came 
out again in 1902. In the meantime we had that trip to Point Barrow, in which 
the Prince of Wales deer were taken to Point Barrow and returned. 

The Secretary. That is the case where you assisted the whalers? 

Mr. Lopp. Yes, sir. 

The Secretary. Captain .Jarvis went up to that point with a herd, didn't he? 

Mr. Lopp. Captain Jarvis commanded and I had charge of the reindeer. A 
great many of those were private deer and belonged l:o the natives. They 
loaned the deer. 

The Secretary. What was done with them? 

Mr. Lopp. They killed about 200 of them that spring. The rest were left 
there and formed the nucleus of that Point Barrow herd. The following year 
part of them were brought back ; some were left at Point Hope. 

The Secretary. How many men were wrecked there? 

Mr. Lopp. I think about 280 or 290. 

The Secretary. That number of men? 

Mr. Lopp. Yes. sir. 

The Secretary. On one ship? 

Mr. Lopp. Two ships wrecked and the rest were caught in the ice; seven or 
eight ships, all told. 

The Secretary. And it required 200 deer to feed them? 

Mr. Lopp. It required more than that, but Captain Jarvis added that to the 
rations which they had. The rations got low in May and June. I turned 
around and came back immediately after I got there. ' Now, as to the result 
at Cape Prince of Wales. It was twelve years ago the Government gave them 
100 deer there and this is the result: Last fall when I left there 21 natives 
owned 1,167 deer and the mission owned the balance — I think about 300. 

The Secretary. Where does the Government come in? 

Mr. Lopp. The Government has not come in there yet. They have never 
asked for any deer. They gave those deer without asking that they be returned. 
The contract— you will see it, I think, in the report of 189J— shows that they 
were not to be returned. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA, 141 

The Secretary. Any reason given for that? Why did they treat that mission 
so favorably, or rather not upon the same terms as other missions? 

Mr. Lopp. The reason was. as given at that time, to allow the two nearest 
missions 100 deer to experiment with. This money was contributed from out- 
side sources. I did not think much about that one way or another. I was up 
there, and the deer were offered to that mission, and as the representative I 
took them and made what I could of them. My idea always was. and is yet, 
that if a mission has deer turned over to it for that purpose they should feel 
duty bound to use all the economy in the education of apprentices, and not 
allow any of the reindeer income to go to the general support of the mission. 
For instance, if they sell $500 worth of reindeer this year for meat or anything 
else they should use that in feeding and clothing Eskimo apprentices. 

The Secretary. What really does become of the proceeds? 

Mr. Lopp. Well, up until possibly year before last or last yeai'. I think, at all 
the stations the proceeds have gone that way ; but last year a number of mis- 
sions marketed quite a lot of female deer and meat, and some of them are 
ahead. They have used some of the funds for the general support of the mis- 
sion work. For instance, the Teller mission, the Norwegian Lutheran mission, 
they have had a herd of reindeer from the Government for five years — 100 
deer. Last fall I went up there to receive them back for the Government. 
Their time was up. They returned the 100 deer. I asked for the contract, 
and they had none ; it was a verbal understanding. The man in charge told 
me what his recollection was in regard to sex. We took that as a basis, and 
I received for the Government 100 deer and marked them with an aluminum 
button — an ear mark. As the result of that five years' loan they paid for one 
apprentice. They gave one Eskimo 25 deer. 

The Secretary. Who did, the Government or the mission? 

Mr. Lopp. The mission. One Eskimo had been there during the entire five 
years, so they gave him that reward of 25 deer. Other Eskimos had been there 
two, three, or four years and had dropped out, so they came in for nothing. 
That mission there last fall had 270 deer left after paying back 100 to the 
Government. It had 270 for its increase. After paying the native 25, it had 
245 left. I could not tell you just what their income has been, but I think they 
must have sold $600 or $700 worth of meat last year. 

The Secretary. And kept that money for the mission? 

Mr. Lopp. Yes, sir. They are supporting an orphan asylum. There was an 
epidemic in 1900, and a great many natives were left orphan children, and 
they have gathered them together and have been keeping and feeding them. 
He told me it was his understanding when he took that herd of deer that he 
would be allowed to use any revenues or income from the herd for the support 
of that asylum. 

The Secretary. Really, now, what means were taken to educate appren- 
tices — speaking generally — at the difl'erent stations? 

Mr. Lopp. Well, about the method in vogue is : They will take a young man 
and, for instance, at that station which tries to follow the i-egulations which 
says that no native shall own a deer until he has served five years, while other 
stations have given them out every year. For instance, at the end of the first 
year give two deer ; at the end of the second give three more to the appren- 
tice, etc. 

The Secretary. You do not understand exactly what I mean. How many 
natives or apprentices have been educated at all these different stations to 
train and use or properly train for use these reindeer ; how is the system 
working? 

Mr. Lopp. It is working fairly well so far as it goes, but there is only a com- 
paratively small number of natives who have learned. I do not know that 
I can tell you just how many natives in Alaska have become herders. 

The Secretary. At the different stations, have you any idea about what 
number? Has the number of apprentices been that which the Government had 
a right to expect under these contracts or under arrangements where thex'e 
were no contracts? Has it been a success or has it been a failure? Have they 
made any progress toward teaching the people who it was desired should use 
these deer? What progress was made? 

Mr. Lopp. My opinion is that they should have taken on more apprentices 
at those different stations. 

The Secretary. And devoted the proceeds to that purpose? 

Mr. Lopp. Yes, sir. 



142 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

The Secretary. To the education of appreutices— to teach them hovs- to train 
deer so that they could be useful? 

Mr. Lopi". Yes. sir. I called the Kotzebue mis.sionary's attention to the 
matter last winter. He had 100 deer there four years, and the Laplander 
at Kotzebue had the same. That man only had three apprentices there. 

The Secretary. How many ouj^ht they to have had. in your idea? 

Mr. Lopp. Six or seven. They mi{i;ht have started out with three or four the 
first year, but as the income came in from the herd I think they should have 
increased the number of apprentices. 

The Secretary. What do they hope to teach the apprentices? 

Mr. Lopp. They don't teach exactly. They learn by doing it. For instance, 
in the winter the boys will go out of morning and round up the herd. One or 
two will go out each morning and hunt the herd. The deer live on reindeer 
moss, and may possibly be 3 miles from their camp. They notice where they 
were the last night and go out in the morning and round up and see that all the 
bell deer and sled deer are there. 

The Secretary. The bell is to make them follow? 

Mr. Lopp. It is to locate them with. 

The Secretary. What are the apprentices instructed to learn? Is it merely 
the herding? 

Mr. Lopp. No. sir. To protect the deer ; to harness them and to make har- 
ness and make sleds. It takes them some time to learn to break deer to 
harness. 

The Secretary. That shows the necessity for having a greater number of 
apprentices if they have these various things to do — make harness and sleds 
and breaking in the deer. 

Mr. Lopp. It is real hard to make a good sled deer, it seems, the first season — 
to get him strong and trained. He Is not in prime until the second year. 

The Secretary. Now, the argument in this deer system has been that it is 
for the purpose of transporting food, and I have lieard also that it was for sup- 
plying clothing. Don't they u.se the skin for clothing? 

Mr. Lopp. Yes, sii*. There is great need for clothing. The natives need the 
skin for clothing more than the flesh for food. 

The. Secretary. How about transportation? 

Mr. Lopp. The natives could get along without that ; they have their dogs. 

The Secretary. I read the story that somebody out there has the contract 
for the mails, supposed to be transported by deer, and that no deer are used at 
all, but that the man having the contract has sublet it, and it is done entirely 
by dogs. Is that true? 

Mr. Lopp. That is true. I suppose you refer to the Point Barrow and Kotze- 
bue mail i-oute. 

The Secretary. How long is that? 

Mr. Lopp. It must be 650 miles. 

The Secretary. How often is he required to go? 

Mr. Lopp. Two round trip? a year. 

The Secretary. What do they get? 

Mr. Lopp. One thousand five hundred dollars for two trips. 

The Secretary. What do they actually pay the man who does the work? 

Mr. Lopp. I think he said that they paid at least one-third. The natives 
report that lie got 20 sacks of flour for each round trip. That would be 40 
sacks, or 80 sacks for the two round trips for the two natives. Besides that, he 
fed them ; and I am not sure whether they furnished the dog team or not. 
Eighty sacks of flour would be $150 or $200. 

The Secretary. And the other fellow was sitting back getting $1,500 for doing 
the job. That is about it, isn't it? 

Mr. Lopp. It looks that way. They get freight for $25 a ton. 

The Secretary. We have heard also that there is some woman up there who 
has somewhere between three and four thousand deer. Is that true? 

Mr. Lopp. I never heartj of it. 

Mr. Acker. She is the widow of Charlie Antisarlock, a native apprentice. 
She has quite a number; I think somewhere about 1.500 or 1,600. 

Mr. Lopp. She is not in my district ; and while I used to know her and her 
husband — her husband was with us on that trip to Point Barrow 

The Secretary. Well, call it half of that — 1,500. How in the world could she 
get that accumvdation of reindeer? 

Mr. Lopp. Her husband was loaned 50 deer in 1894. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 143 

The Secretary. Twelve years ago. 

Mr. Lopp. Yes, sir. And he was sent dowu to Sin Rock, near Nome. He had 
also served as an apprentice there at the station. I think they gave him five 
female reindeer ; possibly ten. He was a very intelligent man, and they thought 
a good deal of him. 

The Secretary. Pretty thrifty, was he not? 

Mr. Lopp. Yes ; he was a thrifty man ; was honest and honorable in every 
respect ; and Captain Haley's idea was to give Charlie a chance and see what 
he would do. He did very well, and took on apprentices. He took on some 
natives there to help herd, and they sent one or two Laplanders down there to 
him ; but one Laplander they sent lived in his house all the time on the beach, 
and was of no help, especially in regard to the reindeer. The Government paid 
that expense. He was out no expense for the Laplander. 

The Secretary. Do you call the Eskimo " Charlie? "' 

Mr. Lopp. Yes, sir. That is his first name. He loaned his first herd tor that 
Point Barrow expedition, and was paid back later. His idea was to pay these 
native apprentices at the end of about five years. At the end of his five years 
he died; and I heard last winter that Mary refused to pay off all the appren- 
tices. Mary was his widow. After his death Mary became rather desolate, 
and the superintendent of that Eaton reindeer station came up there and took 
her herd down to Eaton station ; and it was reported that they butchered quite 
a number of deer going along, and that there was a good deal of drunkenness on 
the part of the superintendent and the Laplanders who were going do\^ n with 
her and her deer. After they got down there there was n change made in the 
administration at that station, and the Swedish mission took a hand in it, and 
this superintendent, after he lost his job, put in a large bill against Mary for his 
services, and they took it to court. Jiidge Brunner defended the woman, and 
the Swede lost out on it. Mary was half Russian. 

The Secretary. What is yovir opinion as to this system or policy of leasing 
or loaning or giving these reindeer to these natives, whether Eskimos, Lap- 
landers, or what not? Is not the thing a failure, or is it not a failure? I ask 
you because you have been there for a number of years. 

Mr. Lopp. The system is not a failure, because great good has already been 
accomplished. If you wish to ask me whether there is a better system, yes. 

The Secretary. I just want the facts. 

Mr. Lopp. The reindeer have thri^■ed. There is no doubt about the experiment, 
and I think the figures show ; but it seems to me. and always has. that deer 
should have been distributed to more natives. I realize and think that it was 
probably wise to go slow the first few years. The reindeer, while it is of great 
aid and assistance to those natives, it is not like distributing flour or sugar or 
something like that among them. There is a great difference in those natives. 
Some of them never would make reindeer herders. 

The Secretary. In other words, there are some there who appreciate the 
efforts the Government is making to give them instruction and aid them, and 
others who do not. Now, is it not probable that they are intending to run this 
business from the Washington end without knowing the facts out there? 

Mr. Lopp. I think so, and that there is a false system of economy. I think the 
time has come that the Government must either go into the business or out of it. 

The Secretary. Why should the Government stay in the business now that 
there are 10,000 reindeer there? 

Mr. Lopp. Well, the Government would have to stay in a few years or sell 
these off. Some of them could be sold this year and next to the natives. 

The Secretary. I understand the Government now owns less than 2,500 out 
of the 10,000. 

Mr. Lopp. I think the Government will have direct control this coming summer 
of 2,500, counting the increase. 

The Secretary. Are there not some more to come in? 

Mr. Lopp. There will be some more to be returned, according to these leases. 
I am not sure what was done there at some of those stations. The Bettles herd 
was brought down the Yukon and turned over to the Episcopal mission at 
Tanana. 

The Secretary. The Government, as I understand it, has spent in the pur- 
chase of these reindeer, since the time the business was first started, over 
§•200,000. Has it not, Mr. Acker? 

Mr. Acker. A'ery near that, Mr. Secretary; .$222,500 this gives it. (State- 
ment of the Commissioner of Education, year ended June 30, 1905.) 

The Secretary. And all it has to show for it is this 2,.500 deer. 



144 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC.^ IN ALASKA. 

Mr. Lopp. That is all it has in its possession. It has succeeded in this round- 
about way of distributing many to the natives. We have understood that that 
was the object. 

The Secretary. This distribution to the natives was confined to comparatively- 
few, was it not? I mean with respect to ownership. 

Mr. Lopp. Yes, sir ; comparatively few. But they are increasing all the time, 
and it will only be a matter of a few years 

The Secretary. You do not advocate the Government's buying any more, do 
you? 

Mr. Lopp. If it wants to stay in the business and distribute them it would be 
all right to buy more, but it seems to me the first and most important thing now 
is for the Government to make several new herds up there and take on more 
apprentices and get more natives into the business. 

The Secretary. And manage it at the other end under the direction of the 
governor, rather than at this end by persons who rarely visit Alaska and do not 
know the details that the administration has to contend with. 

Mr. Lopp. I believe that the men in the field should have more authority, so 
that they could act in what seems best to them. 

The Secretary. Roughly speaking, about how many are native owners of 
these deer? In other words, how many have practical control of the 7,500 that 
do not belong to the Government? 

Mr. Lopp. I had some statistics at Seattle, but I did not bring them along. I 
did not know I was coming to Washington. 

Mr. Acker. Seventy-eight ; 7S apprentices own 3,817 deer. 

The Secretary. Some increase is to come back from these to the Government, 
is there not? 

Mr. Lopp. Not from the apprentices. 

The Secretary. That is outside ownership? 

Mr. Lopp. Y"es, sir. 

Mr. Acker. When an apprentice graduates he gets a stipulated number of 
deer, and he can not dispose of them, except the surplus males, until a stated 
number of years have elapsed. 

Mr. Lopp. For instance, take the Cape Prince of Wales herd ; when these 
herders graduate and become independent herders they take on herders on 
their own account. All the Cape Prince of Wales independent herders have 
taken on other Eskimos, and feed and clothe them themselves and give them 
their deer. 

The Secretary. Do these apprentices use deer for meat or other purposes? 

Mr. Lopp. For meat and clothing. Those who live nearest to markets where 
they can sell the meat, buy flour, etc. ; they market part of it and take cash and 
then buy their tea, sugar, coffee, and flour. 

The Secretary. What is deer meat worth out there? 

Mr. Lopp. About 2,5 cents a pound last year. 

The Secretary'. And what will a mature deer weigh? 

Mr. Lopp. Average, 140 pounds. A very large one will weigh 180. 

The Secretary. They get, then, about $40 or $50 for them? 

Mr. Lopp. Yes, sir. 

The Secretary. One hundred and sixty pounds at 25 cents per pound would 
be just $40. I will have to go now, and would like for you to give the governor 
and Mr. Acker any further information or explanation they want. I would 
like to have you, Mr. Acker, ask him something about the school system. 

The Governor. How many assistants would be required to look after these 
deer that belong to the Government, under direct control of somebody resident 
there? 

Mr. Lopp. For the purpose of taking on apprentices and redistributing the 
deer, or merely to keep and protect them, perpetuate them? 

The Governor. For the purpose of taking on apprentices and distribution of 
the surplus to the apprentices. I mean for the next year or two. 

Mr. Lopp. Two or three men in the field, I should think, could cover the 
ground. I believe it would be a very wise plan to take the brighter of those 
Eskimos and give them positions of responsibility as the.v show themselves 
capable. I think three would be better than two for all that region, but two 
might answer the purpose. 

The Governor. Three Eskimos? 

Mr. Lopp. No ; white men. 

The Governor. How much would it cost to maintain and pay these three 
white men? 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 145 

Mr. Lopp. I tbiuk a superiuteudent out there ousht to have at least .$2,500, 
but it never paid that; might get some field men for .$1,200 or .$1,500. 

The Governor. With rations? 

Mr. Lopp. No; you probably would have to pay his traveling expenses. 
Last year they paid me $1,500 and traveling expenses when on official business. 

The Governor. How much would that amount to? We have just $15,000, and 
I want to know what we have to pay out for the necessary people to look after 
this matter in the field. 

Mr. Lopp. I don't think my traveling expenses going up from Seattle and in 
the field were more than $400. 

The Governor. Well, that is $1,000. For two others what would it amount to 
with rations? 

Mr. Lopp. They gave me to understand that if I was visiting a herd on official 
business the Government would pay my expenses, but at my headquarters I 
had to pay my own expenses. I think that to estimate it at $4,000 or $5,000 
for the superintendent and two assistants 

The Governor. Entire cost? 

INIr. Lopp. Yes ; entire cost. 

The Governor. It would be nearer $5,000 than $4,000, would it not? 

Mr. Lopp. Yes. I think it is economy for the Government to have the proper 
number of superintendents. 

The Governor. Yes ; it is a pretty big country to cover. How much does it 
cost to maintain a herd — a herd organized for the purpose of learning appren- 
tices and distribution? 

Mr. Lopp. Well, say we take on six new apprentices and hire two of those 
older natives; I think it would cost at least .$2,000 on an average to maintain 
a new herd — that is, for six apprentices and possibly to pay a little salary to 
those head herders that we get from some of the older herds. Some of them 
might be willing to go just for the rations. They are attached to their home 
districts and do not like to go off to other places. 

The Governor. Well, for a station of that kind, how many deer could be 
cared for? 

Mj-. Lopp. Well, in that district I have been in, I think, if possible, there 
should be at least five or six new herds made there this following winter. 

The Governor. You do not understand me. At that expense, how large a herd 
of reindeer can we maintain? 

Mr. Lopp. Three thousand easily. The number of deer does not affect it 
much : there is a little more work when it comes to marking. 

The Governor. When these deer are turned over to apprentices, the superin- 
tendent does not have to bother about them any more, does he, except to see 
that they are not slaughtering the female deer? 

Mr. Lopp. That is all. 

The Governor. Those deer are distributed over that whole area. How many 
stations could we assemble there? 

Mr. Lopp. Well, we have a few Government deer at Point Barrow. It would 
be quite a long drive to bring these down to Kotzeltue. 

The Governor. Would it be necessary to bring those deer from Point Barrow? 

:Mr. Lopp. No, sir. I see no advantage in putting these Government deer 
together. 

The Governor. Well, of course we would have to work within the limits of 
the appropriation. If we have only $15,000, we have to fix the machinery so 
that you will not spend ;iny more. If it takes $2,000 to establish a herd and 
$5,000 CO superintend it, we could not establish many herds. 

Mr. Lopp. AVell, I hope you will not give up on the approjiriation. 

The Governor. Since you have been up there, how much better is the condi- 
tion of the native to-day than before the introduction of those reindeer? 

Mr. Lopp. A great deal better in the way of clothing and food, but I do not 
mean to say that the reindeer is entirely responsible for it. It has helped a 
great many families at Cape Prince of Wales and Teller, but other things have 
helped the natives. The coming of the whites in there has made a steady 
market for everything they kill and make. They all use stoves, cook their food, 
wear underclothes, and live clean and better. 

The Governor. How is the mortality? 

Mr. Lopp. On the increase a little. I think that, from the census last spring, 
it is increasing a little. Had an epidemic there last spring which took away a 

S. Doc. 483, 59-1 10 



146 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

large imnil)pr of old jx-oplo :ui(l some yoiiiii; ones. Aloiij; the coast a great many 
of them die of starvation. / 

The GovKRNOR. Then, to take care of these 2,r)00 deer is going to require 
?25,000 a year — for care and distribution? 

Mr. LoPH. It ought to. 1 thiiilc. to do it i)roi)ei-iy. 

The Governor. If tlie (Jovernment undertook the care of the deer on that 
basis, would the herds increase materially? 

Mr. Lopp. It would depend upon how many apjirentices jou took, and how 
many deer you gave them as a reward for their api)renticeship. 

The GovERN( R. Those natives have money, have they? 

Mr. Lopp. Yes. sir. 

The Governor. They would lie able to buy deer if thev wanted tlieni. wouldn't 
they? 

Mr. Lopp. Yes ; some of them would. 

The Governor. If the Government is going out of the business in the next 
two or thi'ee vears, vvhat would you suggest as the best method of going out 
of it? 

Mr. Lopp. Well, if they establish these stations and take charge of the ap- 
prentices and give them the deer they earn, if they could get increased appro- 
priations they could take on a sutlicient number of herders each year to get 
out of the business at the end of three or four years. I believe in actual 
ownership by the n.-itives. I do not believe in marking a deer for a native and 
telling him it is his if he is a good boy, etc. I believe in giving it to him. so 
that his people v.ill inherit it at his death. I believe it would be a good law 
which would prevent those natives from ever selling any of the female deer to 
the white people. That would prevent the whites from getting control of the 
deer the natives now own. 

The Governor. As I look at it, it is going to take more money each year. 

Mr. Lopp. Well, you can regulate that. It is owing to how many apprentices 
you want to take on and educate. I believe that if we could get some new 
herds established in the next three years and get the natives started off well 
they would take on ap])renti(es and they could perpetuate the deer themselves. 

The Governor. How long do you think the Government would have to keep 
in this business? 

Mr. Lopp. So far as the natives are concerned, I think the Government could 
get out of the business at the end of five years. 

Mr. Acker. Then, according to your view of the matter, $25,000 for the 
next five years. That would make a good round sum of money. 

Mr. Lopp. It would not be much compared to what they put in on Indian 
schools in Western States. They allow $166 for each Indian pupil? 
schools in the United States. They allow $166 to the Indian pupil. 

Mr. Lopp. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Acker. At the expiration of five years the Government would be re- 
leased from further domestication of the reindeer in Alaska, so far as the De- 
])artment can provide now. Then the reindeer would be in the hands of com- 
petent herders. Would it then be necessary for the Government to continue 
the superintendence of the deer up there? 

Mr. Lopp. It would be well to continue a general superintendence. 

Mr. Acker. Then it is your idea that if the Government appropriates $25,000 
next year for the reindeer in Alaska that there should be a provision put in 
the law prohibiting apprentices receiving deer from disposing of any deer to 
white men? 

Mr. Lopp. Yes ; any female deer. I believe it is all right to allow these ap- 
prentices to sell female deer among themselves. 

Mr. Acker. I want to ask you about the schools up there. Those reindeer 
stations are under your immediate supervision? 

Mr. Lopp. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Acker. Now. what are the stations under your supei-vision? 

Mr. Lopp. Point Barrow,, Wainwright, Point Hope (just a school building 
there; no school or herd). Gorwin Lagoon, Kotzebue, Deering, Shismaref (no 
school, just a building). Cape Prince of Wales, Teller reindeer station. Teller, 
Quartz Creek (no Government building), and St. Lawrence Island. 

Mr. Acker. Those are all the points where schools are maintained? 

Mr. Lopp. Schools were maintained at all those points, except Point Hojie 
and Shismaref. There is a missionary living at Corwiu Lagoon. He gets 
sui)port from his board in California, and his wife is the Government teacher. 
They occupy the Government school building. 



EDUCATIONAL AXD SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 1-47 

Mr. Acker. How many pupils have they? 

Mr. Lopp. I heard they have about 35 or 36. People are moving in there 
from about Point Hope. 

Mr. Acker. There really is a bona fide school being conducted there? 

Mr. Lopp. Yes. sir. 

Mr. Acker. And they have a fair attendance? 

Mr. Lopp. Yes. People have come in from other places and filled the 
place up. 

Mr. Acker. How much do they pay the teacher? 

Mr. Lopp. I do not know otticially, but I think about $80 a month. That is 
what they generally pay those teachers connected with missions. 

Mr. Acker. She subsists herself? 

Mr. Lopp. I think the (^laker mission board feeds and clothes her. The 
Quaker board feeds and clothes Mr. and Mrs. Walton and the Government pays 
Mrs. Walton a salary. 

Mr. Acker. And furnishes her a house? 

Mr. Lopp. Yes. 

Mr. Acker. That is the best schoolhouse in your district? 

Mr. Lopp. No, sir : there are several like it. I have not seen it. We landed 
the stufl' there last winter and sent carpenters there. 

Mr. Acker. Do j'ou have anything to do with the supervision of that school? 

Mr. Lopp. That was included in my title. I came out last winter and never 
visited the school. I visited the one at Kotzebue and those farther south. 

Mr. Acker. Then you really have supervision over the schools as well as the 
reindeer stations in your district? 

Mv. Lopp. That is what the appointment called, for. 

Mv. Acker. And you visit the schools as often as you can? 

Air. Lopp. Yes. We established one school there at Teller. The population 
increased late in the fall. White people moved in in the fall and asked me to 
come down, and I investigated and found out that there was a school population 
there, white and native, and the Department instructed me to establish a school 
there, which I did. 

Mr. Acker. Could you give a list of the schools in your district, with the 
number of children who actually attend school and the approximate compensa- 
tion of the teachers, so that I can identify them with Mr. Churchill's report? 

Mr. Lopp. I could not tell you the number of pupils. 

Mr. Acker. You could approximate, could you not? What I am trying to 
bring out is the actual attendance. This education report gives the enrollment 
but not the attendance. 

:Mr. Lopp. I was not expected to get these reports, and they do not report to 
me directly. I was not instructed to collect any statistics, and what I would 
remember would just be incidental. 

Mr. Acker. If you could give Mr. Harvey a list of those stations, I could 
make a comparison with Mr. Churchill's report. 

Mr. Lopp. Well, we will start with Point Barrow. Just from memory I 
should say it had an average attendance of 35 pupils for the season. 

Mr. .Vcker. One teacher at Point Barrow? 

Mr. Lopp. Last year they had two teachers. 

Mr. Acker. How much were they paid? 

Mr. IjOpp. One thousand five hundred dollars each. 

Mr. Acker. That was exclusive of everything else? 

Mr. Lopp. I don't know whether they were allowed coal or not. This pres- 
ent time there is one Government teacher at Point BaiTow and a Presbyterian 
missionary. 

At Walnwright Inlet the average attendance for this winter, I should judge, 
would be about 15 or 20 pupils if the natives came down and settled there, as 
I imagine they have. If no more natives came- than were living there last year, 
they probably do not have an average attendance of more than 6 or 7. It is a 
small, weak settlement. One teacher. I do not know what the appointment 
I'eads, but they pay them .$1,.500. 

Point Hope just has a school building, which is being finished up. It has not 
been occupied yet. 

Corwin Lagoon has one teacher. 

Kotzelme has a Government school building and a Government teacher, and 
an average attendance, I should say, of about 25 pupils ; may run 30. 

-Mr. Acker. What pay? 



148 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

Mr. Lopp. The yentleuian there is a luissioiiary, and his wife is the Goveru- 
meut toather. I think she gets JjJSU a mouth. The mission board has a mission 
building in addition to this Governmeut school building. 

The next place is Deering, on the south side of Kotzebue Sound. They have 
one (iovernnieut teacher there. A missionary and his wife are there — Quakers. 
The school. I should say, would average about 35 pupils. This building was 
just completed in September last, and is the only building. The mission board 
has no property whatever. I think they jiay the lady about $80. 

Mr. Acker. Has the lady a husband V 

Mr. Lopp. No ; she is single. 

At Shismaref the building was finished, i)()ssibly in December, but has not 
been occupied. Government building. 

Ml'. Acker. Most of these buildings were built under contract. Two or three 
of them we could not get any bids on and had to erect them by day labor. 

Mr. Lopp. The next station is Cai)e Prince of Wales. There we have a Gov- 
ernment school. Two teachers ; one is a white man and the other is a native. 
The native is assistant teacher and gets .$40 a month. 

Mr. Acker. Is he the only native teacher? 

Mr. Lopp. That is the only native teacher on the coast. He is a very bright 
boy and does good work. The white teacher gets .$900 a year. Last year he 
got $L200. but was cut down to .$000 and came very near leaving. I do not 
think he would stay there another year for .$900. He is a very efficient man. 
There is also at this place a mission maintained by the Congregational board. 
It has its own building, separate from the Government. 

At Teller there is a Government teacher — not the old Teller reindeer station. 
I don't know whether that was built by the reindeer fund or the school fund. 
Five years ago it was turned over to the Norwegian Lutheran mission. They 
started an orphan asylum. Mr. Brevig, at the head of that, is a Government 
teacher ; that is. the school is in his name, but he has a young lady doing the 
teaching. I think they get about $80. 

Mr. Acker. Does he pay her all he is supposed to receive? 

Mr. Lopp. I think not. I don't know just how they manage, 

Mr. Acker. In other words, he supervises the mission work and is supposed 
to do the teaching. 

Mr, Lopp, Yes. sir ; the missionary has the use of the Government building 
for residence and orphan asylum. 

A school for both whites and natives was maintained at the town of Teller. 
This other wa$ Teller reindeer station. That has been discontinued. 

There was also a school last year near Nome, on Quartz Creek, for natives; 
a Government school taught in an old road-house building bought by private 
contribution. I think a Congregational minister at Nome selected a Government 
teacher. So far as 1 know the only support it had was the Government salary. 
That has been discontinued. Those are all. 

The Governor. You were superintendent of the reindeer and schools, too? 

Mr, Lopp. Yes. sir. 

Mr. Acker. Mr. Lopp had general charge of schools and reindeer stations. 

Mr. Lopp. I had these seven or eight school buildings to erect; I had nothing 
to do with the purchase of supplies or determining the size. 

Mr. Acker. That is a good deal to require a man to do for $1,500 a year in 
that country. 

Mr. Lopp, They sent up some outside carpenters, too. I have been getting 
along very nicely. Got some men from the field there ; it costs less. For each 
of these school buildings they sent up some flour, sugar, and tea and put seven 
or eight natives on the buildings. They were all shingled from the outside. 
The natives put on all the rough lumber, floor, sheathing, etc. 

Mr. Acker. That was the understanding when the education office was au- 
thorized — that natives were to be employed so far as possible. 

Now. with regard to reindeer stations. Where the Government is supposed 
to have a contract, and some places have, and loans a stipulated number of deer 
to be used in the industrial education of the natives, are any of the people 
actually in charge of these stations on the pay rolls of the education office? 
In other words, is the station practically maintained out of the fund for 
education ? 

Mr. Lopp. I was informed the other day that my salary was paid out of the 
reindeer fund. There is no Govei'nment i-eindeer station in my district. Point 
Barrow station I would suppose to be a mission, from reading the reports. They 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 149 

were only there a short time. I have since been informed that they hianed the 
I'resbyterian mission a few deer. I heard tliat the Government toolc the deer 
away from them and maintained apprentices at Government expense. The St. 
Lawi'ence Island herd and I'oint Rarrow herd have been supported l)y the Gov- 
ernment. At nearly all these other places they had been supported by the 
missions. I did not get to visit I'oint Barrow in the winter. 

There is one more scliool, that at St. Lawrence Island. There is a Govern- 
ment school there and a man is teacher. His wife is also there with him. T 
think they get $1,500, and they eai'u their money. So far as I have been able to 
learn, the mission pays nothing there. 

Mr. Acker. You mean that the missionary society pays nothing? 

Mr. Lopp. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Acker. All the deer on that island belong to the Government? 

Mr. Lopp. The Government and the natives. 

Mr. Acker. As a matter of fact, some of these reindeer stations are depend- 
ent upon Government funds for their maintenance other than the 100 deer they 
are loaned? 

Mr. Lopp. Point Barrow and the St. Lawrence Island stations have been main- 
tained by the Government. 

The Governor. Where is St. Lawrence Island? 

Mr. Lopp. It is over next to Siberia. 

Mr. Acker. Point Barrow and St. Lawrence Island are the only two places 
in your district maintained wholly at the expense of the Government — the 
reindeer service and educational branch? 

Mr. Lopp. I could not be sure of that. Those are two isolated iilaces? 

The Governor. If you get these deer scattered around, I think it will require 
larger appropriations. 

Mr. Lopp. You have something to show for it, though, Governor. If you are 
feeding and clothing the natives, you have something to show for your ex- 
penditures. We have very little to show, so far as the training of apprentices 
is concerned, for the appropriation. 

Mr. Acker. Suppose the Government should decline to loan any more deer 
at those stations ; for instance, those Presbyterians — they are not entitled to 
any more loans. At St. Lawrence Island the Govennuent owns them all. The 
loan tu the Roman Catholic mission at Nulato will be due in :\Iarch this year. 
The loan at Bethel is also due. Suppose the Government shimld decline to 
renew the loan at those places ; could those deer be retained in the custody of 
the Government and maintained without any very large expense? 

Mr. Lopp. I think so. I think the mission board would surely I)e willing to 
keep them there without expense. 

Mr. Acker, Could they be looked after by the herder, who is an Indian em- 
ployee of the Government? 

Mr. Lopp. Yes, sir: if they have a herder there. I hardly think they have. 
I think the Laplanders there are working without any pay. I think by their 
contract they could be held to look after these deer. I think that could be 
arranged. 

Mr. Acker. This man Bahr; he returns his deer this sunnner. He got them 
in 1901 and they are due in 1!X)6. Same way with Sara and Spein. Now, 
three of them have discharged their obligations. There are ."lOO deer coming 
back this year to the Government. I suppose they are at stations where they 
could be looked after. 

Mr. Lopp. They are all down there at that one station, as I understand it. 

Mr. Acker. Bahr is at Eaton. 

Mr. Lopp. There \\ould be a group at Eaton and another at Kuskokwim 
Valley. 

Mr. Acker. Are there other Government deer down there? 

Mr. Lopp. There is a herd down at Iliamna Bay. 

Mr. Acker. The Secretary has an idea of abandoning this loan system. 

The Governor. I suppose he means to let the natives take care of them and 
let them have a portion of the increase, so that they will eventually have a herd 
of their own. 

Mr. Acker. Oh. yes. The contract with these different mission societies is 
that they would be given 100 deer and return an equal number at the expira- 
tion of live years. Now. in return for that loan they subsist the Laplander, 
who does the training at that particular station. 



150 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SEKVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

Mr. Lopp. No ; tlicy have not subsisted the Laplander. The Government has 
been paying that. At times there has l)een exceptional cases. At Cape 
Prince of Wales we have never had a Laplander. 

Mr. Acker. What I was trying to get at is this : There are at Nulato 151 
deer. If they take away lou deer for the Government that would leave 51 
for the mission. If the Government took away the 100 deer and still required 
the missionary society to educate those natives, could they not do it at the same 
price they do now V 

Mr. Lopp. You say they would have how many left? 

Mr. Acker. Fifty-one. This is a table gotten up in 1904. 

Mr. Lopp. Well, they have 190 there now at Nulato— 100 to the credit of the 
Government and 9(» to the credit of the mission. Your question is whether or 
not there is anything to compel that mission to go ahead with the education 
of apprentices. I do not think they have educated very many. 

Mr. Acker. No ; not whether there is anything to compel them, but could 
the Government maintain the number of apprentices that is being maintained 
there now in as economical a way? Would it cost the Government more? 

Mr. Lopp. If the Government withdrew its 100 deer and drove it to some 
other herd you want to know about what that would cost it? 

Mr. Acker. No. The mission gets the increase from the 100 Government 
deer. Now, if 100 are taken away and it is still necessary to maintain appren- 
tices there, what would it cost the Government? 

Mr. Lopp. I could not say. They may arrange that with the mission for so 
much per capita. 

Mr. Acker. Five hundred dollars a year they pay the Laplanders. 

Mr. Lopp. Five hundred dollars and rations. 

Mr. Acker. The rations amount to about $500 more. Say, about $1,000 a 
year for salary and subsistence. 

Mr. Lopp. The Laplander's rations at Kotzebue amounts to $120. I gave 
the native in charge of that herd Laplander's rations. .'};9.855 a month is what 
a Laplander's rations amovuit to when purchased at a store at Kotzebue 
Sound. There are two stores there. That was the lowest bid. At $10 a month 
the cost to feed a native would be $120 a year. 

Mr. Acker. Would it cost more at points more remote? 

Mr. Lopp. At Point Hope and Point Barrow they have the same rates as at 
Kotzebue Sound. 

There is another thing I would like to call your attention to — that is, Alaska 
Peninsula. There are thousands and thousands of wild reindeer there. I 
think it is about 10 miles across there from salt water to salt water. I have 
been told that there are thousands of wild reindeer there, and from all I have 
heard I don't think it would be very costly or difficult to establish a herd down 
in there of about 100 deer — drive them down from the Kuskokwim region and 
capture some of the fawns and domesticate them. I think this would improve 
the breed and be the means of increasing the number of Government deer. If 
that could be made a Government i-eserve — there are a great many fur-bearing 
animals there. Some of the natives up about Nome are going down in there 
and capturing a great many seals. 

Mr. Acker. It would be no trouble to make it a reserve. 

The Governor. Those deer are not suitable for long trips, are they? What 
is the staying quality of the deer? 

Mr. Lopp. Five or six days at a time is long enough to drive any deer. 

The Governor. How many miles a day? 

Mr. Lopp. Twenty-five. One deer to a sled will haul .300 pounds. It is 
much better to only use them two or three days at a time. Turn the deer out 
tlien and put in a fresh one. If you take him out on a long trip, and he has 
to pick his moss at night and has to keep that up for two or three months, 
there is not nuich left of the deer. 

The Governor. He has to work night and day. 

Mr. Lopp. Yes. sir. 

I believe, too. that if the Government went into the business and began estab- 
lishing stations and training natives that some of those missions might do a 
little better than they have been — might take on more apprentices and make a 
better showing than in the past. There would be a little competition anyway. 

Mr. Acker. Where it is necessary to enter into a new contract with those mis- 
sionary societies we can impose new conditions upon them. 

Mr. Lopp. I suggested that to Mr. Churchill. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SEEVICE^, ETC.^ IN ALASKA. 151 

Mr. Acker. You saj', 'Sir. Lopp, they ought to iucrease the number of appren- 
tices at each station? 

Mr. Lopp. I said that in establishing a new herd I should like to see as uiany 
as six. 

Mr. AcKEK. Do you think it would be a fair thing if we required these mis- 
sionary societies to increase them to a stipulated number? 

Mr. Lopp. I think so. Base it on the number of deer they possess. Stipulate 
in the contract that they shall keep an apprentice for so many deer. That 
would be the proper basis for a stipulation of that kind. 

Mr. Acker. It does not seem to me that we could do anything else but con- 
tinue this arrangement with these societies, with the understanding that the 
number of apprentices shall be increased, and to increase the number of super- 
visors there. 

Mr. Lopp. A general superintendent, by going up and getting a man in that 
northern route might be able to cover the southern route pretty well, and two 
men might be sufficient. I think there will be some conveniences this summer 
for going up to Kuskokwim. 

Mr. Acker. In your district they have no schools for whites, have they? 

Mr. Lopp. No, sir. Nome is the incorporated town ; but at Teller we have a 
mixed school. 

Mr. Acker. Most of your schools will be below Nome? 

The Governor. Yes. 

Mr. Lopp. There is one thing I think important to decide as quickly as pos- 
sible, because time is short to make plans for the year. North of Kotzebue 
Sound supplies ought to be sent in. 

Mr. Acker. The appropriation for this service is made in the sundry civil bill, 
and that bill has not been taken up yet by the House committee. 

Mr. Lopp. If the appropriation passes in April, the firms on the coast will 
give credit. They have been doing that in the past. 

Mr. Lopp. In renewing or making new contracts with missions which already 
have deer, I would suggest that they be required to make an annual statement 
to the Government superintendent, showing what income has been derived from 
the herd in the sale of deer, skins, hiring of sled deer, etc., and showing also 
that they have expended all of this in the training, feeding, and clothing of 
Eskimo apprentices. In making up said income, no salary or wages of a mis- 
sionary for superintending should be taken into account. These contracts should 
stipulate the entire income should be spent each year in the support of appren- 
tices, and the contract should further state the number of deer to be given to 
these apprentices by the mission stations. 

Department of the Interior, 

Washington, June 12, 1906. 
Sir : I am in receipt of Senate resolution of the 1st instant reading 
as follows : 

Rcsolcrd. That the Secretary of the Interior be. and hereby is. directed, if not 
incompatible with the public intere.st, to furnish the Senate with a copy of any 
communications received from the Commissioner of Education commenting upon 
or in replv to the report of the investigation made in 100.") by Special Agent 
Frank C. Churchill regarding the condition of educational and school service and 
the management of reindeer service in the district of Alaska, the same to be 
attached to and printed with the report of Special Agent Frank C. Churchill, 
which was called for by the Senate in session May 31, lOtMi. 

In response thereto, I have the honor to transmit liereAvith copy of a 
letter from the Commissioner of Education, with the accompanying 
commentary of that officer on the report of Special Agent Churchill 
regarding education in Alaska and the doni-sticr.tion of reindeer m 
the district of Alaska, called for by the resolution. 
Very respectfully, 

E. A. Hitchcock, Secretary. 

The President United States Senate. 



152 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

Department of the Interior, 

Bureau of Education.. 
Washington, D. 6'., Mmj 21, 1900. 

Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a copy of the 
report of Mr. Churchill on the schools and reindeer stations in 
Alaska. 

After careful study of the report I have made a connnentary to 
some of the more important questions discussed by Mr. Churchill. 
There are 17 lieads in all, taking up the questions' pretty nearly in 
the order that they are taken up in the report. 

In the investigations of the special agent in Alaska it was neces- 
sary to collect the rumors current as to loose management and verify 
them by actual instances. 

After this, it was necessary to compare these rumors and the in- 
stances found with the official records of the Bureau of Education, 
made up from the annual reports returned by the heads of the several 
reindeer stations. This was necessary in order to see whether the 
instances constituted any considerable item in the make-up of the 
total, or vvhether they were of rare occurrence. 

If the instances of violation of the rules, as compared with the 
conduct of the whole, can be shown to be insignificant by the statis- 
tical returns for all the stations and for several years taken in suc- 
cession, it would follow that the charge of loose management in this 
respect can not be laid upon this Department. The evidence of the 
official reports would shut out the possibility of looseness of manage- 
ment in that particular. 

1. Take, for example, the slaughter or sale of female deer. The 
reports show for 1005 that every station returns a large majoritj^ of 
female deer, and that the total of all the stations gives 7 female deer 
to 4 male deer among the the adult deer, while of the fawns born the 
ratio is 103 males to 100 females. The universal testimony shows 
that large prices are offered by outsiders to apprentices and herdsmen 
in order to induce them to part with female deer. Does not the actual 
proportion of 7 to 1 prove the impossibility of any looseness worth 
mentioning in this matter of the sale or slaughter of female deer? 

2. Take the complaint as to the violation of the rules which guard 
the preservation and increase of the herd. The annual increase of 
fawns born and the doubling of the herds once in three years proves 
the groundlessness of this criticism. 

3. The complaint that deer are kept away from the natives and 
given to mission stations and Lapland herders is sufficiently an- 
swered by the reports which show that of all the deer 30 per cent 
are in the hands of the (Tovernment, 38 per cent in the hands of 
trained natives, and (jnly 21 per cent in the mission herds, and 11 
per cent in the hands of the Lapp herders. The number in the hands 
of the apprentices exceeds those in the hands of the Lapp herders 
and mission stations taken together, in the ratio of 38 to 32. 

4. Aiud so with regard to number trained to harness, the total is 
in excess of 500, while the entire number of adult deer in 1005 was 
only 3,738; an average of 1 in 7 of the male deer were trained to 
harness. Again, at Golovin Bay, the station where teaming is most 
in demand, of the 297 male deer, 77 were trained to harness, or more 
than 26 per cent. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 153 

In these cases the official records are sufficient to show the slender 
basis of the popular criticisms collected in the report. 

In the order of importance I should arrange the cfuestions dis- 
cussed somewhat differently, namely : 

I. The Government's support of the relief stations at Barrow and 
St. Lawrence Island treated in section 5, beginning- on page 13 of 
the manuscript, and section G. an error in the Bureau reports, Avhich 
caused Mr. Churchill to regard these as mission stations; section 7, 
the cost lines of the experiment, which is based on the same error 
as to Gambell and BarroAv being mission stations; and section 8, as 
to the real cost of the mission herds and their income. 

II. The sale of female deer, which is proved not to exist b\' the 
reports received from year to year as to the sex of the deer, which 
show a growing preponderance of female deer in the herds as a whole 
and in each particular herd, the ratio at present being 7 female deer 
to 4 male deer in the aggregate of all the herds. (See section 9.) 

III. The third point considers the deer said to be given away or 
loaned to private parties, considered in section 4, and also in section 
12, the economy' of numagement at Wales mission as compared with 
the Government herds at Teller (1894 to 1898), and of Eaton (1899 
to 1903). and sections 11 and 13. on the same subject. 

IV. The number of deer trained to harness, Avhich is represented 
by the report as being insufficient, though the report does not support 
its criticism by statistics, except from two or three places. The 
full statistics of deer trained to harness show an aggregate of 500 
and more to be fully trained or in a state of training. The stations 
near the gold mines have the larger number of deer trained to 
harness, and incidental information on this point shows that rein- 
deer trained to harness are very much used at Golofnin station and 
some others. 

V. Subsidies to missions for buildings and for instruction pre- 
vious to 1894. There are no subsidies given to missions subsequent 
to 1894, as explained in section 15. The subsidies mentioned in the 
report relate to St. Lawrence and Barrow through the error spoken 
of in sections 6, 7, 8, and section 5. namely, the error of reckoning 
them among mission stations. 

VI. Under the sixth head I refer to my comments upon most of 
the evidence given in the report, which is in the nature of a collection 
of criticisms on the management of reindeer in Alaska, collected 
from white immigrants into Alaska from the States. These criti- 
cisms take the form of innuendo or the statement of a fragment of 
a fact which looks bad taken by itself, but which taken with the 
total of facts of the same kind nuiy look the opposite of bad. 

I have only commendation for the general spirit of Mr. Churchill's 
report, which, I think, does right in picking up all of the complaints 
and innuendoes, but is incomplete only in that it does not place the 
fragments of facts together with the facts in their entirety as found 
"n official reports from Alaska or as would have been found from a 
more thorough investigation on the ground than Mr. Churchill's 
time permitted. 

I have the honor to be. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

W. T. Harris, Commissioner. 

The Secretary or the Interior. ^ 



THE REINDEER IN ALASKA. 



A COMMENTARY ON THE REPORT OF SPECIAL AGENT 

CHURCHILL. 

Section. Page. 

1. Deer trained to harness . . 155 

2. Printed reports of Government expenses in Alaska 156 

3. A herd of geldings 157 

4. Deer given away or loaned to private parties 158 

5. The Government support of relief stations at Barrovp and St. Lawrence 

Island 160 

6. Error in Bui'eau reports as to Gambell and Barrow 160 

7. Costliness of experiment . . . 161 

8. Mission herds^their economy 162 

9. Sale of female deer 163 

10. Number of Government deer 163 

11. Deer " put out of Government control "' 166 

13. Economy of management at Wales mission 167 

13. Repurchase of deer originally loaned to natives or to missions 169 

14. Fragmentary facts of gossip versus official reports 170 

15. Subsidies to missions for buildings and instruction previous to 1894 171 

16. Miscellaneous criticisms 172 

17. The siipport of apprentices 173 

Letter from Secretary of Treasury, May 4, 1899. Return of deer to 

Wales 174 

General historical table of reindeer, apprentices, supplies, and salaries. 175 



"As already pointed out. the complete failure of the deer business 
as a lasting benefit to the natives will begin with deer getting into 
the hands of white men wishing to build up the business for its 
profits. A few white men testified that they thought the deer busi- 
ness did not amount to much, and when pressed for further informa- 
tion it wnis invariably to the effect that the deer did not amount to 
much to the white man ; that is. the wdiite man was unable to buy 
them, therefore why should they be in Alaska." (Report of Mr. 
Churchill, p. 57.) 

The narration of a fn^gment of a fact may be made to contain an 
inuendo or calumnious insinuation. That the air is full of them in 
Alaska, or any other mining region, is to be expected. It was desir- 
able that this rcDort shoidd gather up such insinuations as were 
found to be current and sift them to the l)ottom. and if the report 
had not been completed with undue haste I think that its able writer 
would have accomplished what was desired — namely, a survey of the 
complaints w^hich allege particular instances of malfeasance placed 
on a background of ascertainable facts. I mean facts that show 
generally a striking conformity to the policy laid down from the be- 
ginning — namely, the training of the Eskimo apprentices by a long 

154 



EDUCATIONAX, AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA. 155 

apprenticeship, which tests their persistence as well as their skill, 
and secondl3% the bringing of the reindeer into their hands and pro- 
tecting them in their township. (^Y. T. H., commentary on report.) 



I. DEER TRAINED TO HARNESS. 

The first criticism in the report relates to the reindeer-team busi- 
ness (p. 5 MS.) : 

Of course it is possible to develop the reindeer-team business to that extent 
that it will be of real value, first, to the natives, and, secondly, to the whites 
who push in to develop new sections ; but past management has done very little 
in this direction, and very little can be hoped for along this line until there 
is au entire rearrangement. 

The annual reports from 12 stations show^ 392 deer alreadj^ trained 
for use of sled, and, besides these, at 6 stations 83 deer are in the 
process of training. This makes a total of 475 sled deer. The other 
places not reporting— Kivalina, Iliamna, and Bettles — are known to 
have enough to swell the number to at least 500 sled deer. Golovin 
Station, near Nome, has been from the start the leader in this branch 
of the industry, and it reports 52 well-trained deer and 25 under 
training, or 77 sled deer. 

It seems that the number of deer trained to harness is considerably 
larger than the present needs of the stations. Although in a few 
cases long journeys have been made with deer, the industr}^ can not 
develop its full usefulness until a chain of relay stations is estab- 
lished, with intervals of only 40 or 50 miles, or at most 100 miles 
between them. To utilize deer for transportation for long distances 
they may be driven at the rate of 8 to 10 miles an hour for nve 
or six hours, when a relay of fresh deer should be employed (and per- 
haps a change of drivers), taking the load to the next relaj' station. 
As travel is just as easy by night as by day in the arctic winter, two 
more changes can be made during the nighttime, and in the course of 
twent3-four hours a distance of 200 miles mnj be made. But if one 
set of deer is expected to go 600 or 700 miles, there must be periods 
of rest every other day, and perhaps three-quarters of the entire time 
should be required for grazing in the moss pastures and resting, so 
that a progress of 50 miles a daj^ would be all that could be expected. 
Mr. Kjellmann, in his trip from Teller to Bethel, made 00 miles a 
day where the country was level and its snow covering in good 
condition. 

The report mentions (p. 75) the experiment of carrying the mail 
from Point Barrow to Kotzebue, and wonders why reindeer Avere not 
used instead of dogs. The explanation is that no relay stations could 
be arranged, and the whole distance was between 500 and 000 miles ; 
and while deer may stand a long journey and accomplish it in a day, 
they can not accomplish a series of six or seven days without intervals 
of rest. Relays are necessary, and relays of dogs can be obtained in 
all parti? of Alaska wherever there are native villages. 

From a remark made in the report it would seem that the writer 
of the report takes for granted that females as well as males are 
trained to the harness. He speaks of 22 deer only as trained to the 
harness at Point Barrow, while the herd contained upward of 600 



156 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IX ALASKA. 

deer. There Avere only 109 males at l*oint Barrow July 1, 1905, and 
22 is 13 per cent of the total. 

The following table shows the distribution of deer, as returned to 
the Bureau in the annual reports for 1905: 

Nmnher of trained sled deer. 



Stations. 


Number 
trained. 


Number 
in train- rp_x„i 
ingJune ^°**^- 
a», 1905. 


Unalaklik 


38 

32 

6 

40 
62 
20 
22 
52 
20 


15 .53 


Eaton 


23 .55 


Nulato 


2 


8 


Kotzebue 


40 


Bethel 




62 


Gambell 


2 
25" 


22 


Barrow 


22 


Golovin 


7T 


Shismaref ... 


20 


Wales 


41 
14 




41 


Deering 


14 


Kivalina 






Teller.. 


45 16 


61 


Iliamna 




Bettles 


j 










Total 


.392 ' 83 1 475 











It is well to inventory all manner of complaints. All charges 
that point to mismanagement deserve consideration. The prol^e must 
be used constantly. But it is necessary to bear in mind that the 
white man immigrating to Alaska will be found antagonistic to 
any and all regulations which tend to make the natives thrifty and 
able to drive a sharp bargain, or even a just bargain, with the immi- 
grant from the States. Hence the prejudice that exists on the part 
of the miners and other white men at the mines against the mis- 
sionary stations, which stand between the native and the cunning 
purveyor who tries to drive sharp bargains. Instead of the soft and 
easy gullibility of the native, who has not been trained to know his 
rights and to value properly his own possessions, the agent of the 
miners finds the native at missions enlightened as to the condition 
of the market. This is well stated on page 57 of the report. 

II. PRINTED REPORTS OF GOVERNMENT EXPENSES IN ALASKA. 



The lack of printed reports made by the Bureau, whereby the public could 
know about the salaries and other expenses paid from year to year, has tended 
to throw an air of mystery around the administration of the Bureau's affairs 
not altogether desirable. (Ms., p. 7.) 

This complaint occurs often in the report. 

In the annual statement of the Bureau the total of salaries of 
officials and the total of teachers' salaries and the number of teachers 
and the total cost of supplies, the cost of transportation, traveling 
expenses, and miscellaneous expenses are given. From this can easily 
be calculated the average salary of officials, the average salary of 
teachers, and the average expenditure per school or per station for 
supplies, freight, and miscellaneous expenses. Besides this publica- 
tion there has been a report made to the Senate of the United States 
and published for each year since 1890, giving a great variety of 
detailed information and many items which are not printed in the 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 167 

annual statement, for instance, the average attendance at each school 
mentioned on page 42 of the manuscript as missing from the printed 
reports. 

The report says : 

Statistics of the Bureau of Education fail to give other facts tlian enrollment 
for unknown reasons. The number enrolled is not of value Iteyond disclosing 
the number of pupils found. Requiring publicity as to the average attendance 
at each school should receive no opposition, and such requirement would have a 
tendency to encourage each teacher to bring the average to as high a percentage 
of the enrollment as possible. Much depends upon the personal efforts of the 
teacher in this particular, and percentage of attendance of enrollment should 
determine in large measure the value of the teacher's services. (Ms., j). 42.) 

The number enrolled is considered the most important of all items 
of school statistics because it shows how far the influence of the school 
extends, what part of the population it reaches. Average attendance 
shows only continuity of work and the length of time tliat the pupil 
is under school influence, on an average. The significance of the 
average attendance is apt to be incorrectly interpreted, especially in 
the case of schools in communities that are partiall}'^ migratoiT, as in 
Alaska, where a tribe removes from its winter abode to the shore of a 
sea or the banks of a river or to a hunting ground for the summer 
and a part of the fall to catch and dry for its winter use the supply of 
fish or meat. 

The remark in the report is based on the policy of management in 
the city schools of the States, where regularity and punctuality are 
considered great virtues, and justlj^ so. In dealing with native races 
in rural regions the teacher makes a mistake who insists too rigidly 
upon regularity and punctuality and makes the child dread absence 
and tardiness more than it loves the work of the school. It tends to 
keep children out of school altogether. It is not the pupil that 
attends from the first day to the last day of the school term in all 
cases that profits most by the school. The pupil of 14 to 16 years 
that attends thirty or forty days gets a sufficient start to enable him 
b}'^ use of the book at home or at his daily work to master the art of 
reading the printed book. 

Again, the average number attending is often taken as the measure 
of the amount of the teacher's work, whereas it is an inverse measure 
only. It shows in the case of irregular attendance how much labor 
the teacher has to perform to bring up the work of the pupils lost 
by absence through individual instruction on the part of the teacher. 
It increases the work of the teacher from 50 to 100 per cent, but this 
does not justif}" a rigid enforcement of the rules for regularity and 
punctuality in a country where there are no clocks and but little 
difference between night and day as to sunlight in the winter, and 
where blizzards are frequent with temperatures from 20° to 70° 
below zero. 

III. A HERD or GELDINGS. 

The report speaks of the rumor that the 16 reindeer landed at 
the island of Unalaska were geldings and quotes the report of the 
Commissioner of Education in 1898 (Ms., p. 43) : 

The 16 deer purchased in 1891 had been allowed to run wild on one of the 
eastern Aleutian islands and since then have in a measure stocked that island 
with reindeer. 



158 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC.^ IN ALASKA. 

Doctor Jackson reported seeing fawns in the herd on the island 
of Amaknak, east of Unalaska, in the second year after the 16 were 
placed on that island and again one or two years later he saw- other 
fawns in the same herd. Api^arently the rumors current in regard 
to this herd of 16 had become mixed up with the rumors regarding 
the reindeer imported by the Secretary of War to conve}^ food from 
Skagway to the starving miners in the mining camps about Dawson. 

The report (on p. 46) speaks of this importation from Norway 
as follows: 

It is to be regretted that iu the early days many questionable and extrava- 
gant schemes were attempted not only to secure expert employees in handling 
deoi-. but to bring deer from the remote parts of the world to cross with the 
Siberian strain. In the early days a trip was made to Norway by the agents 
ot the Bureau to buy deer in behalf of the War Department. Ultimately the 
surviving animals came into the hands of the Bureau. The Norway trip 
resulted in the Government paying the expenses of 67 Norwegians, together 
v.ith their families, 113 in all, in connection with the deer business. 

The Bureau of Education did not send any agents to Norway on 
this occasion, but the Secretary of the Interior detailed Doctor tTack- 
son, wdth his consent, to the War Department, and he became a paid 
agent of the War Department, by wdiich Department, also, Mr. 
Kjellmann, a teacher, was employed and added to the detail of four 
persons or more sent by the War Department to Norway to purchase 
sled deer, which are in all instances geldings. Some 550 geldings, 
and no others, were imported ; hence " the intention to cross with the 
Siberian deer "" never could have formed a part of the plan. And it 
had been perfectly well known for five years in the Bureau of Edu- 
cation that the Siberian strain of deer was about 50 per cent larger 
than the breed of deer grown in Lapland, 

It had been reported from the very first that a breed of very large 
deer were to be found to the west of the sea of Okhotsk. Doctor 
Jackson, in his report for 1891-2, copies a woodcut of a native riding 
in the saddle on one of these large reindeer. This breed was spoken 
of from time to time, and finally, in '1901, an attempt was made to 
procure some of these large deer. Lieutenant Bertholf, of the 
Revenue- Cutter Service, conducting the expedition. This was the 
onl}^ attempt to secure a superior breed of deer " to cross with the 
Siberian strain." 

IV. DEER GIVEN AWAY OR LOANED TO PRIVATE PARTIES. 

There is no uncertainty as to the looseness with which Government business 
has been handled as to ownership, the giving away of deer, and the loaning of 
deer to private parties. (MS., p. 54.) 

I do not find in the facts reported or in the accompanying exhibits 
sufficient warrant for this assertion. The loaning of deer to private 
parties turns out upon examination to be only loans to Lapland 
herders, who are employed as Government superintendents to in- 
struct in the use of reindeer, and, instead of being paid in money at 
the rate of $500 each for salary and $500 more for supplies, are 
loaned a herd of 100 deer, to be returned at the end of five years — 
100 deer of the same age and condition. 

The report speaks particularly of Nils Klemetsen (MS., p. 91). 
The report does not recognize in Klemetsen one of these superhitend- 



EDUCATIOXAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 159 

iiig herders to whom a h)an of 100 doer has been made in lieu of 
sahirv, which, in cash and sii])plies, amounts to $800 or $1,000 per 
annum. The herd Avas h)aned to Klemetsen Jidy. IDOl, and is re- 
turnable July 1 present year. No loans have been made to indi- 
viduals except for teaching herding; and, instead of looseness in 
Go\'ernment management, this jjroves thrift, because a reasonable 
rental of a herd of 100 is $i500, whereas to furnish the salary — $500 
and supplies — Avould cost the Government $1,000 taken direct from 
the appropriation of Congress, 

As to " the giving away of deer," the only instance mentioned is 
the 118 deer given to the Wales mission. The claim that these deer 
were given outright to the mission was made as early as 1894, the 
year of their transfer to Wales, but the Commissioner overruled this 
claim as opposed to the policy adopted by the Bureau, which was to 
loan, and not give away, deer to missions. Onl}^ in the case of appren- 
tices were deer to be given, and then only in numbers which would 
amount to two or three a year for five years, these aggregating, with 
their increase, 30 to 50 deer at the end of five years. But the five 
years had not yet elapsed for the return of the Wales herd when the 
representative of the Government, Lieutenant Jarvis, conductor of 
the expedition to Point Barrow to succor the shipwrecked whalers in 
1898, took possession of the herd, agreeing to return them, deer for 
deer, together with a sufficient number to make up what would have 
been the natural increase. 

In the restoration of the deer the following year the Commis- 
sioner directed the agent of education in Alaska to subtract the 118 
deer due and returnable in 1899, but was prevented in this attempt 
by representations from Mr. Jarvis and by threats from the Secretary 
of the Treasury to order his captains to take violent possession of the 
Government herd near St. Michael and drive it to Wales. (See copy 
of letter from Secretary of Treasury.) 

Inasmuch as the deer lost in the expedition, being used as food for 
the Avhalers, had to be made up from the deer remaining in the hands 
of the Bureau, and also the estimated increase of the herds loaned, 
the Bureau had to look to a Congressional appropriation for the 
remedy, and Congress increased its appropriation from $15,000 to 
$25,000 a year to restore the reindeer industry and make up the heavy 
loss occasioned by the expedition. The 118 deer were not given by 
the Bureau of Education, but constituted an emergency gift of the 
representatives of the Treasury who had in hand the charge of the 
relief expedition. 

Having seized property in an emergency from the Wales station 
said ]:)roperty Avas returned to the Wales station from the Treasury 
as a gift direct from the Government, represented by the Treasury 
ofl)("ials in charge of the expedition, and was not in any sense a gift 
from the Bureau of Education, whose property was drawn upon to 
settle the Government's indebtedness to private owners. 

The Bureau could not question the settlement made by the Govern- 
ment's representative and had no recourse except to look to Congress 
for increased appropriations to make up its losses. This is the only 
case of giving away deer known to this office except in the matter of 
rewarding apprentices. 



160 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

y. thp: government support of relief stations at harrow and st. 

LAAVRENtE ISLAND. 

The "looseness -with which Government business has been handled 
as to ownership '' refers also to the state of ati'airs in the two relief 
stations, St. Lawrence Island (Gambell) and Barrow, where the 
reindeer herds were offered originally to the Presbyterian missions, 
but although some efforts were made to send a Presbyterian mission- 
ary to St. Lawrence Island, no one was found Avho would accept the 
dangerous ])osition. And the mission board declined promptly the 
offer of a herd at Point Barrow, not having the money available to 
incur the annual expense of suj^porting the apprentices there; but 
their missionary was instructed to give assistance to the enterprise 
so far as in his power, which he did by laboring incessantly at the 
work of obtaining native supplies for the apprentices, native supplies 
consisting of whales, seals, w'alrus, ptarmigan and other birds, and 
such game as could be found. Native game is preserved by throw- 
ing it into deep pits dug in the frozen ground and covered over for 
j)rotection. The food freezes immediately, and remains in a good 
state of preservation for many years. 

The efforts of the missionaries at Barrow have reduced the cost 
of supplies to the Government station at Barrow to an average of 
$800 per annum, which is somewhat less than one-third of the amount 
which the Government would have had to pay if it had furnished 
all of the supplies for the large corps of apprentices which have been 
connected with the herd at Barrow. To reward the faithful appren- 
tices by gifts of deer according to the rule adopted for other sta- 
tions, has not only required alt the annual increase of the herd at 
Barrow, but has made inroads into the original 100 loaned, so that 
the Government ownership at Barrow is reported at only 83 the past 
summer. 

This was unthrifty management of the Government herd, because 
the herd at any station ought to increase in the hands of the station 
as well as in the hands of the apprentices, because the station must 
have an increase from 3^ear to year in the number of faw^ns with which 
to reward the faithful apprentices. But from the standpoint of the 
apprentices (which is the standpoint of the report in question, and 
very properly, too), the management at Barrow has been very suc- 
cessful ; it has about 600 deer in the hands of natives and less than 100 
in the hands of the station, and in the meantime the Government has 
had to pay only one-third of the expense of the support of the ap- 
prentices. ' But there is a mistake made in the bookkeeping regarding 
Gambell (St. Lawrence Island) and Barrow. 

VI. error in bureau REPORTS AS TO GAMBELL AND BARROW. 

The Alaska division of the Bureau of Education continued to pub- 
lish the statistics regarding the loans in such a way as to convey the 
impression that the loans offered of 70 deer at Lawrence and 100 
deer at Barrow had been accepted by the Presbyterians, and that 
these, consequently, were mission herds. By this error in bookkeep- 
ing Mr, Churchill had been furnished with what purported to be 
reliable information as to the ownership of the deer at Lawrence 
and Barrow, and hence what was really an expense of the Government 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IX ALASKA. 161 

for its own herds coiikl only be regarded by him (Mr. Churchill) as 
a subsidy to the Presbyterian mission board. In fact, howeA'er, the 
mission board Avas not receiving anything- from the Government, but. 
on the contrary, was contributing to the Government the rental of a 
building on St. Lawrence Island and the major part of the labor of 
the missionary at Barrow, who was supported out of the mission- 
board treasury, nominally for alternate years, but really for nmeh 
larger part of the time, a service Avhich was equal to $1,500 to $2,000 
a year in the way of a saving of cash to the Government appropria- 
tion for supplies. 

It thus appears that this '' looseness as to ownership " mentioned 
in this report was only a carelessness in bookkeeping (though not 
involving financial loss to the Government) at the Bureau. Doctor 
Jackson, it seems, hoped to overcome the reluctance of the mission 
board in New York to undertaking these two relief stations, but 
the realization of his hopes was postponed from year to year, and 
yet the table of Government loans continued to print the erroneous 
information. Mv. Churchill, of course, was entirely right in his 
inferences based on the facts supposed and furnished him from the 
Bureau of Education. But a mistake in bookkeeping against the 
Government, if it does not affect the transfer of Government prop- 
erty, does not really cause the Government to suffer loss, and hence 
such a mistake in bookkeeping is not as bad as a mistake made in the 
management of the Government business in Alaska. My conclusion 
therefore is that the looseness with which Government business has 
been handled as to ownership is not made out by the report, but 
that a gross carelessness as to bookkeeping is made out. 

VII. COSTLINESS OF EXPERIMENT. 

The report invites attention to the total appropriation by Con- 
gress for the introduction of the reindeer as $222,500, and proceeds 
to say (MS., p. 57) : 

As already pointed out, the complete failure of the deer business as a last- 
ing benefit to the natives will begin with deer getting into the hands of white 
men wishing to build up the business for its profits. A few white men testified 
that they thought the deer business did not amount to much, and when pressed 
for further information it was invariably to the effect that the deer did not 
amount to much to the white man — that is, the white man was unable to buy 
them, therefoi'e why should they be in Alaska. 

And the report suggests that the — 

rational and feasible plan is to distribute the animals among the natives 
as fast as they shall become qualified to care for them. 

This is perfectly sound doctrine and very wisely stated. While 
it is necessary to create station herds in order that there may be a 
supply of fawns with which to reward the successful apprentices, 
the herds in possession of mission stations, or even in the hands of 
the Government, do not fulfill the object, but are only means for the 
object. Only in so far as the natives come into possession of herds 
of deer and prove themselves able to preserve and increase their 
herds in the face of the greed of the white man is the object attained. 
And the simplest inspection of the figures will prove that this object 
is in pi-ocess of being realized. 

S. Doc. 483, 59-1 11 



162 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

July 1, 1895, the deer owned by apprentices numbered 3,817, in 
the hands of 78 apprentices; OAvned by the missionary stations. 2,127; 
owned by the Laphmd superintendents, 1,224; owned by the Govern- 
ment, loaned and unloaned, 3,073; total, 10,241. This shows that 
the great object, which is to get reindeer into the hands of the ap- 
prentices, must have been making more progress than any other 
phase of the business. One thousand three hundred and eighty-eight 
have been loaned to missions and Lapland herders and, deducting the 
loans, are represented by 2,127 deer that have accumulated as surplus. 
The number that the missions have given to apprentices is 2,766 
(counting in their increase) and nearly 1,100 more have come into the 
hands of apprentices from the Government herds and from the inde- 
pendent herders. 

VIII. :>rissioN pierds — their economy. 

The report holds that there should be a complete separation of the 
Government herds from the missionary herds : 

Complete separation of property interests and all others which involve the 
outlay of money should be brought about forthwith, if anything like an orderly, 
dignified, and businesslike system is to be expected in managing Alaskan mat- 
ters. * * * 'Jo throw away hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in 
deer seems wrong, and to continue present methods would be as bad or worse. 
The mission should have no more to do than they have with the industrial 
schools for the Indians in the States. 

This statement of the report is based (as above noted) on the study 
of the two relief stations, Lawrence and Barrow, and consequently 
the reasoning is faulty, not because illogical, but because the data 
were wrong as furnished to Mr. Churchill — namely, l)ecause the two 
relief stations were reported by the Bureau as mission stations. On 
the hypothesis which the report had to assume it was inferred by 
correct reasoning that the finances of the Government were mixed 
up with those of the missions, and that the Government was putting 
in its hand to help out the missions, and doing this in a perfectly 
arbitrary manner. These two erroneous hypotheses being corrected, 
the entire basis for the larger portion of the suggestions of tlie 
report relating to missions falls to the ground. 

The account of the Government with the mission stations is a very 
simple and clear matter. There are 10 of these stations, of which 
2 — Shismaref and Kivalina — are mere colonies of aj)prentices that 
have been sent out from AVales, making up a herd in each place from 
the deer which the said apprentices have accumulated. The total 
of deer in these 10 herds was 8,646, of which 2,476 were fawns at the 
time of the report — July 1, 1905. The cost of these 10 stations, with 
their 8,646 deer, for supplies from the Government was nothing — 
they furnished their own supplies; and for suiDerintending herders 
paid for in cash by the Government the cost was only $1,060. Let 
these mission stations only furnish all of their herd superintendents, 
relieving the Government of $1,060 per annum, and return the herds 
due them, and the mission herds become entirelj^ independent except 
for a trifling sum for annual inspection. 
' On the other hand, the cost of the Government station at St. Law- 
rence Island for the six years — 1901 to 1906, inclusive — has been 
$10,105, or an average of $i,684 per annum. And the cost at Barrow 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC.^ IN ALASKA. 163 

for seven years — 1900 to IDOG, inclusive — has been $4,7G5, the same 
being an average of $G95 a year. The expenses in 1905 of the Gov- 
ernment stations of Iliamna and Bettles were, respectively, $6,431 
and $6,123. Government herds are a heavy expense and cost from 
$3 a head to $7 a head, and much more in exceptional localities. 

The $222,000 entire expense of the reindeer, as mentioned above by 
the report, amounts to about $14,000 a year, a very moderate expense 
for even a small amount of Avork carried on at such enormous dis- 
tances and in an arctic climate. The entire Avork costs about as 
much per annum on an average as Iavo good inspectors would cost 
if sent from Washington — nameW, $7,000 apiece. 

IX. SALE OF FEMALE DEER. 

As to the effect upon the natives of deer raising as a civilizing influence, 
* * * the effect is good as far as it goes ; in fact, one can hardly suggest 
anything in the way of occupation of economic value that would be better or 
more helpful in the barren north. * * * The proper coiu'se from now on 
is to gradually get the deer and, so far as possible, to allow no white man under 
any pretext to buy or control female deer. The mischief done in loaning deer 
to outsiders can not now be entirelj' undone. * * * Hereafter no such Joans 
should be made. (MS., p. 59.) 

The Bureau has from the beginning forbidden the sale of female 
deer. I have looked over the exhibits of this report to find evidence 
of the sale of female deer, but in vain, except in a few isolated in- 
stances which are more matters of hearsay than real evidence. On 
the other hand, the table made from the returns sent in during the 
summer of 1905 proves conclusively that the regulation of the Bit- 
reau as regards the sale of females has been well carried out, both on 
the whole and in detail. The fawns born in the spring of 1905 num- 
bered 2,978. The sex was reported of 2,423 of these fawns, of which 
the males numbered 1,231 and the females 1,192, the males being 103 
to 100 female fawns, probably because being stronger more of the 
male fawns survived. 

Of the adults brought over from previous j^ear 4,506 were females 
and 2,582 were males, a total of 7,088 adults (Kivalina, with 153 adult 
deer, being omitted because it does not give the males and females sep- 
arately), the same being 63^ per cent of females and 36 J- per cent of 
males for the adults, although the birth of males is in excess for the 
fawns. The ratio of 364 per cent of males to 63| per cent of females 
gives If females to 1 male, or 175 females to 100 males, and proves 
that the regulation adopted by the Bureau forbidding the sale, 
slaughter, or gift of female deer is carried out strictly. 

X. NUMBER OF GOVERNMENT DEER. 

"A grand total of 10.234 deer in Alaska. Total owned by the Gov- 
ernment, 2,500.'' (MS., p. 64.) In these tables, pages 64-68 of re- 
port, the number owned by Government but in possession of the 
hired Laplanders, who are paid for five years' supervision of the herd 
by a loan of 100 deer for the same period, has in several cases been 
omitted from number OAvned by Government, and the report is con- 
sequently erroneous as to the number of Government deer, omitting, 
as it does, the Lapland herders at Deering, Golofnin, and Kotzebue 
(and at latter phice not only the 100 loaned to Laplanders, but the 100 



164 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

loaned to the station herd). The correct table, according to returns 
received in summer of 1905, is given on page 45 of the annual state- 
ment made to the Secretaiy of the Interior October 1, 1905, of which 
page ])roofs were sent, in care of the Department, as soon as received 
from the Government Printer to Mr. Churchill. 

Counting the Lapland herders' loans not yet returned the number 
owned by the Government is shown in Table 9 of annual statement 
to be 3,073 instead of 2,500, 2,003 being under direct control of Gov- 
ernment; and, after the return of the Teller loan, in September, 1905, 
1,070 still under loan. Mr. Churchill says (MS., p. G4) : '' The fig- 
ures given in some of the tables of the Bureau in its ' advance sheets ' 
for report of 1905 have been changed in the report proper to cor- 
respond more nearlj^ with my own figures.'' This does not mean 
that the Bureau report Avas changed to correspond to the figures of 
Mr. Churchill, for his own figures were not Iviiown until seven months 
later and were probably not taken down from actual count in Alaska 
in any instance, but were offhand statements made by station em- 
ployees without reference to written records. I give here Tables 9 
and 10 of the annual statement, as showing the ownership of deer, 
and Table 5, as showing the several loans in force at the time of the 
annual statement, September, 1905. 

Table 9. — Oivnership of reindeer. 
(September, 1905.) 



Station. 


Gov- 
ern- 
ment. 


Sta- 
tion. 


Ap- 
pren- 
tices 
and 
herd- 
ers. 


Total. 


Station. 


Gov- 
ern- 
ment. 


Sta- 
tion. 


Ap- 
pren- 
tices 
and 
herd- 
ers. 


Total. 




83 




546 
220 
b333 
&51 
294 
537 
35 
456 
570 
542 


629 
220 
733 
479 
460 
942 
189 
941 
1,164 
1,020 


Eaton 

Bethela 


214 
376 

100 
438 
400 


189 
391 
190 


605 
562 


1,008 




1,329 




194 
100 


215 

28 

166 

216 

"'"'270" 
462 


290 




Iliamna 

Bettlesc. 

Total 

Lapp herders . . 


438 








400 




189 
154 
215 
132 

478 








Gambell _ 

Teller 


3,073 


2,127 


5,041 
1,224 

3,817 


10,241 


Golofnina 


Eskimo natives 

















"Lapp herders at these places (2 at Bethel). 

" Eleven of these are sled deer owned by white miners. 

<^ Estimated ; no report received. 



Table 10. — Deer helong'mg to the Government. 



Station. 


Loaned. 


Under 

direct 

control. 


Total. 






. 83 


83 
194 
189 
154 
215 
132 
478 
214 
100 


Kotzebue" 


194 


Wales 


189 
154 
215 

32 
378 
114 


Gambell 




Teller 




Golof nin « 


100 
100 
100 
100 


Unalakleet a 


Eaton 


Nulato 







Station. 



Bethela 

Kivalina 

Deering 

Shishmaref . 

Iliamna 

Bettlesh 



Total. 



Loaned. 



376 



100 



1,070 



Under 

direct 

control. 



400 



2,003 



Total. 



376 

"ioo 



438 
400 



3,073 



"Lapp herders at these places (2 at Bethel). 
'' Estimated ; no report received. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SEKVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 165 
Table 5. — Reindeer loaned. 



Station. 



Loaned. When loaned. 



When due. 



Wales (Congregational) 

Golofnin Bay (Swedish Lutheran) 

Tanana (Episcopal) 

Nils Klemetsen * 

Teller (Norwegian Lutheran) 

Nxilato (Roman Catholic) 

Bethel (Moravian) 

Nils PersenSara* 

Carmel (Moravian) 

Per M. Spein* 

Kotzebue (Friends) 

Alfred S. Nilima* 

Unalakleet ( Swedish Lutheran) . . 

Ole O. Bahr* 

Deering (Friends) 



118 
50 
50 
lOO 
100 

100 
88 
100 
88 
100 
95 
99 
KHI 
lOO 
100 



Aug. -,1894 
Jan. 16,1896 

do 

July 1J!)02 
Sept. 1,1900 



Mar. 
Feb. 
July 
Feb. 
July 
Sept. 
July 
July 
July 
Jan. 



—,1901 
26, 1901 
—,1901 
26, 15X)1 
—,1901 
3,1901 
—,1901 
l,19ai 
1,1901 
18, 1905 



Gift. 
Returned. 

Do. 
July 30, 190r 
Re t u r n e d 
Sept., 1905. 
Mar. —,1906 
Feb. —1906 
June 30,1906 
Feb. —,1906 
June — , 1906 
Sept.— ,1906 
June 30, 1906 
June :^), 1908 
June 30, 1906 
Jan. 18,1910 



Nils Klemetsen is in charge of the herd at Golofnin Bay; Nils 
Persen Sara in charge of the first Bethel herd; Per M. Spein in 
charge of the second Bethel herd ; Alfred S. Xilima in charge of the 
Kotzebue herd ; Ole O. Bahr in charge of the Unalakleet herd. The 
returns of four loans are due at various dates in 1906 — Nulato 100, 
Bethel 88, Carmel (the second Bethel herd) 88, Kotzebue 95; one 
loan of 100 at Unalakleet due in 1908 ; one of 100 at Deering due in 
1910. The six loans amount to 571, which, added to the number 
loaned to the Lapland herders (499), gives a total of 1,070 still 
loaned, (See also Tables 10 and 11, under " Ownership," where this 
matter will be further illustrated.) 

Table No. 10 of the report (MS. p. 67) gives information as to 
employees, herders, apprentices, and deer owned by apprentices. The 
number owned by apprentices is given in Mr. Churchill's table as 
3,070, whereas in Table No. 6 of the annual statement " it is given at 
3,817, a number which should yet be increased by adding 166 at 
Shismaref '' entered in Table 9 as herders," because the entire herd at 
that place is in the hands of Eskimo apprentices who have come to 
own their herds, as is also the case at Kivalina. I have therefore 
given in my latest revised tables the number in the hands of appren- 
tices as 3,983. The report gives the number owned by the herders 
as 3,495, and in this column he included Lapp herders and Eskimo 
herders together, whereas the Eskimo herders should have been 
placed with the apprentices, so as to include the graduate and the 
undergraduate native Eskimos together and the deer that they re- 
ceived by gift as apprentices counted together with the increase of 
the same. The Lapp herders in Table 9 (above) are as follows: 
Nilima, at Kotzebue, 245 deer: Bahr, at L"^nalakleet, 280 deer; Sara, 
at Bethel. 283 deer; Spein, at Bethel, 242 deer; Klemetsen, at Golof- 
nin. 223 deer. 



166 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA, 
o Table 6. — Number of apprentices, icith their holdings. 



Station. 


When 
estab- 
lished. 


Total 
deer, 
1905. 


Appren- 
tices. 


Deer 

owned by 
appren- 
tices. 


Teller 


1892 
1894 
1896 
1897 
1898 
1900 
1901 
1901 
1901 
1902 
1905 
1905 
1905 
1905 
1905 


941 
942 

1,164 

1,020 
629 
189 

1,329 
732 
290 

1,008 
220 
479 
438 

"400 
460 


5 

8 
12 
8 
10 
3 
4 
4 
3 
9 
2 
3 


434 


Wales 


537 


Golofnin 


383 


Unalakleet 


309 


Barrow 


546 


Gambell 


35 


Bethel 


64 


Kotzebue 


40 


Nulato 




Eaton . . 


604 


Kivalina _ 


220 


Deering 


a5i 


Iliamna 




Settles 






Shishmaref . . ... 


7 


294 






Total _ 




10,241 


78 


3,817 









(' Estimated; no complete report received. 

Five Lapp herders with a total of 1,273 deer, as given in Mr. 
Churchill's table (my number is 1,224), which, if subtracted from 
3,495, as given by Mr. Churchill, leaves 2.222 as belonging to Eskimo 
herders, who in the first instance received their deer as apprentices, 
and by careful preservation of the increase have brought up their 
herds to 2,222. Adding the number belonging to the Eskimo herd- 
ens — 2,222 — to the number said by Mr. Churchill (pp. 67, 68) to be 
owned by the apprentices the total is found to be 5,298, which is an 
excess of 1,315 over the number 3,983, as the true total of graduate 
and undergraduate apprentices' herds. It shows that in his inquir- 
ies the 1,315 deer were reported twice — once as belonging to Eskimo 
apprentices and once as belonging to Eskimo herders — Eskimo herd- 
ers being generalh^ called apprentices in Alaska. 

XI. DEER " PUT OUT OF GOVERNMENT CONTROL." 

The report criticises the statements of the Bureau an'd its manage- 
ment. (MS., p. 69.) 

Coiigres.s has since 1894 appropriated tlie iiniiieuse sum of $222,000 to build 
up this deer industry. It is indeed a pity tliat so little has been accomplished 
in establishing the natives in a way that can be considered permanent in the 
deer business. The annual reports on the subject have failed to disclose the 
very things that should have been made known to the Government — that is, 
year by year there should have been a direct and out-and-out statement in 
detail of all the expenditures and a full and correct account of what there 
was on hand at the close of the year. 

The report goes on to speak of the deer as being " put beyond the 
control of the United States Government — where we find most of 
them are to-day." That is to say, recalling our figures (see Tables 
9, 10, and 5, aboA'e, p. 24), 3,073 in the hands of the Government on 
July 1, 1905; 2,003 of the same being under direct control, 1,070 
loaned to missions and Lapp herders, 2,127 owned by the several mis 
sioii stations, 3,817 owned by Eskimo apprentices, 1,224 OAvned by 
LajDland teachers of herding; total, 10,241. That is to say, 30 per 
cent in hands of Government. 

Thirty-eight i3er cent have found their way to their ultimate ob- 
ject, which is that of placing the deer in the hands of well-trained and 



EDUCATIONAL, AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 167 

skillful Eskimo apprentices; 20 per cent placed at mission stations, 
where the larger amount of the increase is given year by year for the 
reward of faithful apprenticeships; 12 per cent in the hands of 
teachers who have learned the art of managing deer in Lapland and 
who are possessed with the ambition of having large herds such as 
their ancestors and kindred have possessed in Lapland. These Lap- 
land herders are one of the most effective sureties of the continuance 
of the reindeer in Alaska. The}' will furnish for the future not only 
the deer to start new herds, but sources of authority which will reen- 
force the exjDerience of our native Eskimo. 

To sum up, the teaching force owns at present 3,351 deer, or 33^ 
per cent ; the apprentices own 3,800, and the Government 3,073, the 
Eskimo apprentices having more than half of the deer outside of the 
Government ownership. All that are " put beyond Government con- 
trol '' belong either to natives or to teaching plants. 

And as to the charge that the deer are put beyond the control of 
the Government, it must be replied that the Government has never 
had in its hands so many deer as it has to-day at any previous time. 
Twelve hundred and eighty were imported from Siberia, G48 female 
deer purchased from apprentices and mission stations to supply new 
herds ; the total purchased by the Government in Siberia and Alaska 
is only 1.928, and its present herd is about 1,1.50 larger than the num- 
ber purchased. Of the 618 purchased of the apprentices and missions 
117 were purchased in 1899 to 1903. 344 in the vear 1904, and 187 in 
the year 1905. 

XII. ECONOMY or MANAGEMENT AT WALES MISSION. 

The report intimates that the Government could have kept the 
deer in its own hands, and then it would not have had to purchase 
deer. 

Wliat reasonable excuse, explanation, or apology, moral or financial, can be 
offered for presenting to the American Missionary Association at Cape Prince 
of Wales 118 deer is beyond comprehension when it is considered that the Gov- 
ernment, at its own expense, has erected a schoolhouse and provided a school- 
teacher at that place, while it has been compelled, through the management of 
the Bureau of Education, to pay the American Missionary Association at Cape 
Prince of Wales thousands of dollars for deer which it should have owned all 
the time. (MS., p. 69.) 

In 1899, 43 female deer purchased at Wales cost $1,290. In 1904 
229 female deer were purchased at Wales for $5,725. This total of 
272 female deer purchased at Wales cost, all told, $7,015. (See table. 
MS., p. 65.) 

If the Government had retained the 118 deer given to Wales (see 
sec. 4 above) and kept Wales as a Government station, 1894 to 
1904. it would have cost $40,579. at the rate of the expenses of Gov- 
ernment station at Teller, which for the four years 1894-1897. count- 
ing only supplies and freight, was $14,758, or $3,689 per annum. 
This includes only sup]:)lies and freight Avithout paying anything for 
salaries of herders and supervisors. Adding salaries at $1,319 per 
annum, the total expense would have been $55,038. Taking the ex- 
penses of Eaton station, which succeeded Teller station in being the 
station for the Government herd, as a guide for our estimate, its 
expense for five years for supplies and freight, from 1899 to 1903, 
inclusive, was $12,432, or an average of $2,486 per annum, and 



168 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

eleven years at this rate would have cost $27,346. Adding salaries 
at $1,319 per annum, the entire expense would have been $41,855. 

Supposing that the Government station at Wales had cost from 
1894 to 1898, inclusive — that is, for five years — the same as Teller for 
the same period, namely, $18,445, and for the next six years, namely, 
from 1899 to 1904, the same rates as at Eaton, namely, $14,918, the 
total cost for supplies and freio-ht alone for the eleven years, 1894 
to 1904, would have been $33,363. The cost of salaries for the Gov- 
ernment herd from 1894 to 1904, averaging Teller and Eaton sta- 
tions, was $1,319 a year, or $14,509 for the eleven years. The cost of 
the station to the end of 1904 at this average of Teller and Eaton 
expenses would have been $47,872, nearly the price of 2.000 deer at 
the price of $25 apiece. 

This and what follows may be better understood by the following 
table : 

Teller station— 1894, 189.5, 1896, 1897 ( foiir vears)— cost for supplies and 

freight $14. 758 

Or, ,$.^.()89 per year. 
Eaton station, cost for supplies and freight, 1899 to 190.3 (five rears) __ 12.432 

Or, .$2,486 per year. 

Making five years at Teller rate 18,445 

Making six years at Eaton x-ate 14. 918 

For eleven years 33.36.3 

Add salaries for eleven years 14,509 

Total for station without counting buildings and general super- 
vision 47,872 

Total cost to Government of V^'ales station, as actuallv incurred : 

Bv 118 deer (given in 1894), at $25 each 2.950 

By 272 female deer (1899-1904) 7,015 

9, 965 

Total cost estimated if it had been Government station since 1894 47, 872 

Its product estimated at 2.000 deer, of which 1..500 came into hands of 

apprentices and 500 remain at station. 
500 deer; balance in hands of Government station, 1904, at .$25 12, 500 

Taken from total expense leaves 35,372 

Deducting the actual cost 9,965 

Amount in favor of Wales mission as it has been 25,407 

Under the management of the Congregational mission at Wales 
the cost of food for apprentices has been to the mission less than one- 
third what it would have cost the Government per apprentice, be- 
cause of the use of whales, walrus, seals, birds, and game, each in 
their season for storage, as what is called " native food." The in- 
crease of the herd at Wales has been more rapid than the average 
increase of all the herds in Alaska. Counting in the deer that the 
apprentices at Wales haive sold to butchers; what have been bought 
by the Government, and what have been sent out to the two colonies — 
Shismaref and Deering — the total must be in the neighborhood of 
2,500 deer, all told, that have proceeded from the 118 deer gi^en to 
Wales in 1894. 

At the rate of the increase of Government herds, no more than 
2,000 deer could have been hoped for (from the 118 deer — doubling 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 169 

once in three years), and if none had been given away to apprentices 
the Government might haA'c had a herd of 2,000 deer, for which it 
wonld have expended $47,872. but for what purpose? If the herd 
had been kept for the purpose of educating the natives — the purpose 
for which the mission at Wales has kept it — it woukl, like Wales, 
have had most of its deer in the hands of apprentices. Wales 
reports in 1905. as belonging to the station, only 216. The number 
belonging to apprentices, 567, and nearly 1,000 in the hands of ap- 
prentices at the colonies Shismaref and Deering, about 1,500, all told, 
in the hands of apprentices. 

As the matter now stands, 1,500 have got into the hands of Eskimos 
without any expenditure on the part of the Government, except the 
cost of the original 118 given to Wales, when the deer were returned 
to the stations from which they had been taken by the relief expedi- 
tion to Barrow. Counting the 118 at $25 apiece, or $2,950, and 
counting the 272 purchased by the Bureau at $7,015, the total cost 
to the Government has been $9,965, for which it has secured (a) the 
training of many apprentices; (b) the distribution of 1,500 deer to 
native apprentices; (c) the herd of 200 to 300 deer at the station, 
held there for the purpose of teaching and rewarding apprentices; 
(d) and besides all these, 272 female deer to send to other stations. 

At the rates of cost of Government stations at Teller, 1894-1899, 
and Eaton, 1899-1903, the AVales station would have cost nearly 
$48,000, as shown above, if it had been a Government station, and it 
would have raised in all 2,000 deer from the 118 deer given to Wales 
mission. 

If the Government had managed as well as the mission has man- 
aged the 118 deer, it would have brought 1,500 deer into the hands of 
apprentices and native Eskimo herders, leaving 500 of the 2,000 as 
the net amount of assets in its hands. The 500 deer, at $25 apiece, 
would be worth $12,500, and subtracting this from the $47,872, the 
expenses for supplies, freight, and salaries, the net expense that the 
Government would have had foots up at $35,372 instead of $9,965, 
which has been the actual cost. 

This leaves a balance in favor of the Wales mission of $25,407 
over Wales as a Government station. 

The mission at Wales has saved the Government $25,334, and 
this is the answer to the question (Ms., p. 69) : "What reasonable 
excuse, explanation, moral or financial, etc," for the 118 deer given 
to Wales, and the $7,015 paid for the 272 female deer to stock other 
stations at a distance from Wales? 

xiii. repurchase of deer originally loaned to natives or to 

:missions. 

The report approves of the purchase of — 

deer that the natives have acquired through their own thrift and industry. 
* * * I respectfully sulimit that this is the very thing that sliould be done 
to encourage them ; and what is spoken of as educ-atiou for the native should 
signify, in the main, teaching him how to obtain a liveliliood and en(»ugh from 
books to enbale him to protect himself from unscruinilous white men in com- 
mercial matters. The placing of herds into outside hands to be bought back is 
another and entirely different matter, and, to say tlie least, should not be per- 
mitted hereafter. (MS., p. 70.) 



170 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

The principle laid dcnvii in the above quotation seems very reason- 
able, but the insinuation at the end that herds have been placed into 
outside hands to be bought back is entirely without ground in fact. 
I shall be surprised if the Government purchase in 1899 of 13 deer 
contained a single one of the original 118, or if any one of the deer 
purchased in 1902 to 1905 had ever been in the possession of the 
Government. 

One hundred and thirty-six deer out of the 648 purchased (as given 
in the table furnished by the Bureau, and quoted on page 65 of the 
report as Table 11) were purchased from 7 apprentices whose names 
are given, and it is probable that one-half the remainder credited to 
the several mission stations were made up from the herds of the 
apprentices contributed to make up the contingent sold. 

The deer loaned to the stations were from 2 to 8 years old, as 
nearly as can be ascertained. The chief purchases were made from 
Wales in 1904, and if there were any of the original 118 deer still 
alive at Wales they must have been from 13 to 19 years of age. 

XIV. FRAGMENTARY FACTS OF GOSSIP VERSUS OFFICIAL REPORTS. 

The narration of a fragment of a fact may be made to contain an 
innuendo or calumnious insinuation. That the air is full of such in- 
nuendoes in Alaska or in any other mining region is to be expected. 
It was desirable that Mr. Churchiirs report should gather u}) such 
insinuations as were found to be current and sift them to the bottom, 
and if the report had not been completed with undue haste, I think 
that its able writer would have accomplished what is desired, namely, 
a survey of the complaints which allege particular instances of mal- 
feasance, placed on a general background of facts, as to the trend 
of the whole experiment, said facts ascertained from the official re- 
ports of the heads of the stations from year to year. These facts 
show generally a striking conformity to the policy laid down from 
the beginning, namely, the training of Eskimo apprentices by a long 
apprenticeship, which tests their persistence as well as their skill, 
and secondly, the bringing of reindeer into their hands and pro- 
tecting them in their ownership. 

Subsidiary to this end is the founding of permanent stations with 
herds of sufficient size as teaching centers, and Lapp herders, who 
will train apprentices, furnish them Avith reindeer herds, and finally, 
the distribution of these stations over all northern, central, and west- 
ern Alaska where the moss grows abundantly. 

To illustrate this: Against the vague rumors of the sale of female 
deer we have the fact of the j)reponderance of the females in the 
herds, as they actually exist, in the ratio of 7 to 4. (See sec. 9, 
above.) Against the vague rumor that the missions are subsidized 
we have the fact that the mission stations individually and as a 
whole cost to the Government not more than a tenth of the cost of 
the Government herds of the same size. (The past 3'ear, 1905, 
showed that 8,600 deer — that is, 85 per cent of all the deer — cost 
less than $1,500 out of the Government appropriation, or less than 
one-tenth of the $15,000, while the four Government herds, contain- 
ing in all 15 per cent, cost nine-tenths of the appropriation for rein- 
deer.) (See sec. 8, above.) 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA. l71 

In the presence of this broad fact, covering the whole experiment, 
as a background, the little fragment of a fact brought forward in 
the innuendo quoted seems pitiful and illustrates only the greed of 
the white man so well described on page 67 of the report, as already 
quoted : 

A few white men testified that tliey tliougbt tlie deer Imsiness did not amount 
to much, and when pressed for further information it was invariably to the 
effect that the deer did not amount to much to the white man — that is, the white 
man was luiable to buy them, tlierefore why should they be in Alaska? Or 
why, for that matter, should the Eskimo be there ! 

Likewise, the criticism often repeatd in the rej^ort that the reindeer 
business has been pushed with too much haste should be placed on 
the background of the obvious necessity of the pressing needs due 
to the sudden influx of immigrants to the mines. It should be sup- 
ported also b}^ the opposite criticisms which complain of the slow 
growth of the teaming interests, the training of reindeer to the 
harness, or the complaints which blame the tardy transfer of the 
reindeer to the Eskimo apprentices, or blame the slow progress in 
extending the reindeer system to the vast territory of the upper 
Yukon Valley or other river valleys in the northwest, all of which 
complaints have to be placed on the background of the great gen- 
eral fact that the enterprise can not go any faster than permitted by 
the natural increase of the reindeer, doubling once in three years ; or 
any faster than the discovery of competent apprentices and the train- 
ing of them for herders' permits. 

Again, the alleged mismanagement at Barrow and at Gambell, 
on the St. Lawrence Island, is to be viewed constantly in the light 
of the mistaken supposition that these two stations were mission 
stations instead of Government stations, a supposition furnished, it 
is true, by the Bureau through a piece of carelessness that gave to 
Mr. Churchill an erroneous basis on which to interpret the facts 
which he observed at those stations. Before Mr. Churchill's report 
was put in final shape the Commissioner of Education had observed 
ihe mistake and warned him of it, but it seems that it was too late 
to correct the mistake in the final make-up of the report, and hence 
tlie report abounds with criticisms based upon this erroneous datum, 
tnough not through any fault of Mr. Churchill. 

XV. SUBSIDIES TO MISSIONS FOR BUILDINGS AND INSTRUCTION PREVIOUS 

TO 189-i. 

The various discussions in the report of the Government expendi- 
tures for buildings and the claims of ownership on the part of mis- 
sionary bodies should l)e placed on the background of the general 
fact of a change of policy on the part of the Government in 1894. 
In that year Congress inaugurated a change in its Indian policy, 
which had been one of subsidizing the schools of the missions, both 
as to buildings and as to salaries paid. I found this policy in oper- 
ation when I became Commissioner in 1889. The Bureau contrib- 
uted something to the building on St. Lawrence Island, and again 
to the building at Barrow. It paid $15,000 a year to the Presby- 
terian boarding school at Sitka, paying it a little less than the 
amounts that were allowed by the Indian Department in subsidizing 



172 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SEKVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 

mission boarding schools in the States — namely, something over $150 
a pupil. 

One 3^ear it allowed $3,000 for a plant to instruct Indians in saw- 
mill w'ork, in addition to the $15,000 paid to the school of nearly 100 
pupils. But in 1894 all the subsidizing ceased and the Government 
began to build its own schools and appoint its own teachers, consider- 
ing at the same time, as was proper, such religious work as had been 
established by the several religious denominations in the school 
locality, so as not to antagonize the work already going on by intro- 
ducing teachers who would proselyte for some different denomination 
than the mission. But of course even this policy gave rise to the 
innuendo that the establishment of Government schools near missions 
was a subsidy, inasmuch as it relieved the mission of its expense 
for secular schools, whereas it is believed by others that the home 
missions ought not to pay for the secular education of children out 
of the funds collected by them for religious purposes, and that the 
secular schools of the Government ought to be kept for all classes 
and beliefs of population, without sectarian bias toward any particu- 
lar denomination, and by all means without any doctrinal tendency 
toward antireligion or toward atheism. 

The loan of the reindeer for the education of the natives is not re- 
gradecl as a subsidy, but only as a loan of apparatus, which is kept 
good and returned in good condition in five years, meanwdiile having 
been used to teach an industry and to form the beginning of many 
herds W'ith Avhich to stock the country. The cost to the Government 
is reasonably estimated as $600 a year for each hundred reindeer, the 
same being a liberal estimate for the fawns born, the Government 
being at no expense in caring for the deer in the meantime and re- 
ceiving 100 young deer in return at the end of the five years. 

The subsidizing in the way of buildings and instruction relates 
mostly to the period previous to 1894, in which year Doctor Jackson 
himself recommended to me the policy of adopting Government 
schools everywhere in the place of mission schools, and I discontinued 
subsidizing mission schools. 

XVI. MISCELLANEOUS CRITICISMS. 

In many places the report describes the difficulties of reaching the 
stations on the Arctic coast and the impossibility of entering Bering 
Sea nine months of the year. It is this difficulty which furnishes 
many of the facts for Mr. Churchill's criticism of extravagant out- 
lays for salaries of teachers and other employees in the schools of the 
extreme north. Teachers are obliged to go into the northern seas 
when the water is free from ice in August, although perhaps their 
schoolhouses will not be finished for three months later. A fragment 
of a school year is very valuable for education purposes, and though 
sometimes it costs a year's salary for a three-months' school, even the 
brief school may possibly be worth much more than it costs. This 
remark is true also of carpenters employed on buildings on the Arctic 
coast and who have to be employed by the year. 

The examples of thrift recorded of Keok and Karmun (Ms. p. 81) 
and other Eskimos in the herds of Shishmaref and Wales should have 
been recorded as proofs that the natives have acquired not only skill 
but thrift, and the ability to make good bargains with the miner, 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 173 

rather than as examples of undeserved remuneration. Keok and Kar- 
mun are Eskimo natives that have been educated at Wales and well 
trained for the deer industry. The Government keeps in touch Avith 
them by givina* them a nominal salary of $100 each per annum as 
teachers and fiiruishin<i: them each, for the first year only, $i200 worth 
of supplies. 

The report recommends (Ms. p. 108) that — 

three deer should be set apart for each apprentice each year, and that their 
increase should be turned over to the apprentice at the end of his term. 

This coincides with Doctor Jackson's recommendation, but is. in 
my opinion, a little too liberal, inasmuch as the deer would amount 
to 50 at the end of five years, whereas it seems to me that even 50 is 
too small a herd to separate by itself and too large for the full respon- 
sibility of an apprentice with no more experience. 

I recommend, for ni}^ part, two female deer at the close of each 
year; and experiment has found a good plan for colonizing herds at 
a distance of 100 miles or so from the parent station, in which colony 
groups of old apprentices unite with groups of younger apprentices 
and form good-sized herds on a joint-stock arrangement. Such, for 
example, are the herds at Shishmaref and Deering. 

The proposition of the report to adopt a law forbidding the trans- 
fer of female deer except to the Government is a good one, only it 
should be more carefully worded. It should alloAV the transfer only 
to the Secretary of the Interior or to persons authorized by him, and 
it should forbid the slaughter of female deer under any circumstances. 

XVII. THE SUPPORT OF APPRENTICES. 

The report states that (MS., p. 105) — 

Comparatively few natives appear inclined to take up deer raising when it is 
left to themselves, as it means regularity of work of an irksome character, 
which is distasteful to him. Herding requires a tenacity of purpose wholly 
new. and even if the native took willingly to the new order of things, where is 
the food for himself and family coming from if he spends his time watching 
deer? The answer comes at once. They must be fed by those who put them 
into their new environment. Local workers in the service state that a few of 
the natives seem to take pride in the deer, but the rank and file appear 
indifferent. 

This brings out an important point in the management of the deer. 
The apprentices must be supported during their five years of ap- 
prenticeship, and their services as assistant herders must be received 
as full remuneration for their support. Such an arrangement can be 
carried out by well-managed mission stations without loss, as is 
proved by the history of the station at Wales, so often alluded to in 
this report, but the Government has not been able to organize a plan 
by which native food can be obtained and used by the apprentices. 
And in consequence of this the natives soon get the white man's 
habits as to food and the cost of supporting the apprentice becomes 
three times what it ought to be to the Government. 

XVIII. RECORD BOOKS AND REPORTS TO THE GOVERNMENT. 

On page 109 of the manuscript it is stated that suitable record 
books and blanks have never been provided for the local superin- 
tendents. This is not correct. Blanks were jDrinted and distributed 



174 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IX ALASKA. 

two years ago (1904) for collecting all manner of information re- 
garding the reindeer. Books are kept at each Government station, 
and have been since 1804, showing all particulars regarding sup- 
plies. 

why deer (118) were givex to wales. 

Treasury Depart:ment, 

OrricE OF THE Secretary, 

Washington, D. 6'., May 4, 1890. 
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 
3d instant, transmitting a copy of a letter from the Commissioner of 
Education setting forth certain reasons, approved by yourself, why 
you do not find it practicable to comply with my request of the 29th 
ultimo, that reindeer sufficient to fulfill the pledges made by the 
Department of the Interior to W. T. Loop and others, be transferred 
to the i)arties named (to the number of 704 deer) from the herd at 
St. Michaels. 

Concerning the pledge to those people that the deer would be 
returned to them, I beg to invite your attention to previous corre- 
spondence on the subject : 

1. Letter of the Secretary of the Interior to this Department, 
dated November 15, 1897, transmitting a copy of a letter addressed 
by the Commissioner of Education to W. T. Lopp, in charge of the 
Congregational mission at Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska; also a 
copy of a letter addressed by the Commissioner to the Secretary of 
the Interior. 

2. Two copies of those letters herewith inclosed. 

3. From the above correspondence it will be seen that the De- 
partment of the Interior gave the pledge or promise to return the 
reindeer in question to AV. T. Lopp and others. It was for this 
reason that my request of the 29th ultimo, referred to, was made. 

4. I note the following paragraph in your letter : 

I concur in the conclusion of the Couunissionei- tliiit reindeer talcen for the 
relief of the whalers imprisoned in the ice north of Point Barrow should be 
paid for out of any balance of the appropriation which was made by Congress 
for the expenses of the relief expedition, which remains in the Treasury. 

I beg to say for your information that no appropriation was ever 
made by Congress for the purpose named. The entire expense of the 
relief expedition was borne from the appropriation for the mainte- 
nance of the Ke venue-Cutter Service, and just in the same way, 
during nearly five years, beginning in 1891, reindeer purchased by 
the Department of the Interior were transported, to the num})er of 
more than 600, by that service, from Siberia to Alaska free of all 
cost to that Department. 

5. I now invite your attention to the tabulated statement trans- 
mitted with my letter of January 28 last, which is a careful exhibit 
showing the number of reindeer received by the overland expedition 
from W. T. Lopp and others, the number that should have been 
returned to them in the summer of 1898 by the Department of the 
Interior, but which could not be done, the natural increase of that 
herd since that time, and, finally, the number now due to W. T. Lopp 
and others by the natural increa*^se, namely, 704 due this summer. 



EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE^ ETC., IN ALASKA, 175 

6. It will be borne in mind that 390 deer were turned over by the 
relief expedition to yonr agent at Point Barrow and 48 others to your 
agent and Laplander at Point Hope, making a total of 438. The in- 
crease on this number, they being mostly females, would make the 
Government herd at those two points about 700. 

7. The 623 deer reported by the Commissioner (his letter of the 
3d instant, transmitted by you) as at St. Michael in September last 
should now number (due to natural increase), nearly, if not quite, 
1.000. 

8. Thus it will be seen that the Government is in possession of not 
far from 1,700 deer at Point Barrow, Point Hope, and St. Michael. 

9. If you still decline to transfer to W. T. Lopp and others the 
number of deer from the herd at St. Michael rightfully due them 
under the promise of your Department, cited in this correspondence, 
I deem it of such paramount importance that faith shall be kept with 
these people that I shall feel constrained to direct the commanding 
officer of the Bear upon his arrival at Point Barrow and Point Hope, 
respectively, to start the entire herd found at each of those places in 
charge of Laplanders to Cape Prince of Wales and deliver them to 
W. T. Lopp to make good. the number (and increase) borrowed of 
him and the natives there. 

I respectfully renew my request of the 29th ultimo, and ask a reply 
at your earliest convenience. 

Respectfully, yours, O. L. Spaulding, 

Acting Secretary. 
The honorable the Secretary or the Interior. 



Historical (ahle showiruj reindeer in Alaska, by statiojis, 1894 to 1906. 







1894. 




1895. 


Station. 


Deer 
(Jan. 
30). 


Ap- 
pren- 
tices. 


Supplies. 


Salaries. 


Deer 

(June 

30). 


Ap- 
pren- 
tices. 


Supplies. 


Salaries. 


Teller 


588 


15 «•>. 187.15 


$540.58 


399 

194 
174 


9 


$3,709.58 


8683. 80 


Nome (Synrock, Rodney, 
Douglas) 






<"'» 


Wales 






1 












1 















1896. 








1897. 




Teller 


423 

218 
253 
206 


1 
6 «4. fil.S. .^3 




525 

278 
367 
296 


7 9A OiH fiQ 


82,982.20 


Nome (Synrock, Rodney, 
Douglu.«) 


(«) 
5 
4 






(") 
C) 
(") 




Wrtles 










Golofnin 










Unalaklik (Eaton) 







1,174.46 








1 











1898. j 1899. 


Teller 


197 


3 


$424.63 




SCO 

328 


4 

(") 

1 
1 


«771. 83 




Nome (Synrock, Rodney, 
Douglas) 






Wales 


216 
395 
671 
391 


C) 
4 
3 






714 
240 
442 
125 






Golofnin 










Unalaklik ( Eaton) 


25i.25 




3,347.41 




Barrow 






Gambell 








193.18 




Tanana ( St. James) 










261 


1 



















o Number not reported. 



176 EDUCATIONAL AND SCHOOL SERVICE, ETC., IN ALASKA. 
Historical table fihouiiig reindeer in Alaska, hy stations, 1894 to 1906 — Continued. 





1900. 


1901. 


Station. 


Deer 
(Jan. 
30). 


Ap- 
pren- 
tices. 


Supplies. 


Salaries. 


Deer 

(June 

30). 


Ap- 
pren» 
tices. 


Supplies. 


Salaries. 


Teller 


660 

400 
986 
290 

588 

137 

70 

92 


4 
2 

'"3 

2 


5753.62 


«ti50. 00 


737 

507 
993 
311 
686 
227 
87 


11 

8 

'"'a 

5 
7 
3 


$413.28 


»1,778.50 


Nome (Synrock, Rodney, 














Unalaklik (Eaton) 


4.963.66 5.777.31 


1,002.54 2,707.55 
71.85 1,200 00 




1 j 1; 360. 68 




Ganibell 




2,727.34 "> dd<i nn 




(«) 






' 


Bethel 




257 




(«) 




500 00 






1 




333 33 






1 









1902. 



1903. 



Teller 665 

Wale.s 987 

Golovin 424 

Unalaklik (Eaton) 1 1,198 

Barrow 623 

Gambell i 150 

Bethel 045 

Nulato I 151 

Kotzebue • 305 



1,701.63 

731.15 

2,062.69 



8898. 33 



200. 00 
1,200.00 

561. 70 
1,000.00 



641 


7 


525 


9 


728 


12 


503 


16 


612 


11 


154 


3 


792 


4 


171 


3 


379 


3 



82, 189. 34 



1, 418. 50 

818. 99 

2,060.12 



612. 60 





1904. 


1905. 


Teller 


1,073 

1,488 
924 

1,918 
598 
212 

1,046 
216 
714 
300 
300 


5 

• 9 

9 

10 
10 
4 
4 
3 
6 




$1,400.00 


941 

1,402 

1,164 

2rte8 

629 

189 

1,329 

290 

732 

340 

438 


5 
15 
12 
17 
10 
3 
4 
3 
4 
3 


$70.00 


$250.00 


Wales . . I 


















S181. 19 

855. 35 

3,122.58 


500. 00 
1, 500: 00 
3, 274. 29 














888. 72 


1,100.00 


Bethel 








566.66 




250. OU 






110. 60 
2, 489. 41 
2, 179. 90 




Bettles 


1.57. 90 
1,989.62 




1, 500. 00 




BOO. 00 


3. 350. 00 







Barrow.. 
Gambell 
Xanana . 

Bettles.. 
Iliamna . 



$^27. 31 
2, 766. 41 
500. 00 
1, 488. 88 
2,671.48 



(« Number not reported. 



o 



H Ja '07 



